\u201cFor far too long, Radical Climate Activists attempted to hold our Great Country hostage by drastically and unreasonably expanding the intended scope of the Endangered Species Act,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis was complete and total regulatory overreach by unelected bureaucrats! They treated Americans very unfairly by stifling the production of important resources like Oil, Natural Gas, and Timber, and blocking the construction of family homes and critical Infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven our Military couldn\u2019t train on land that was deemed \u2018off limits\u2019 to protect a little rodent!\u201c he complained.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow my Administration has returned the Endangered Species Act to how it was intended to be, just as the Great Justice Antonin Scalia has explained in previous cases. <\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/usfws-spotted-owl-snag1-alan-dyckjpg.jpeg\")
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Endangered Species Act\u2019s definition of \u2018harm\u2019 in a 1995 ruling to protect spotted owls but the Trump administration has now moved to revise the rules (Alan Dyck\/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile responsibly protecting our beautiful Country, the United States of America is going to BUILD again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The administration first announced its change to the 53-year rule<\/a> in July, relaxing the definition of what constitutes \u201charm\u201d<\/a> to sensitive habitats while insisting the current understanding \u2013 upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1995 ruling to protect spotted owls \u2013 had become \u201coutmoded.\u201d<\/p>\n It said in a statement its move \u201creturns the interpretation of the ESA back to its actual text and original intent, which will end years of federal overreach.\u201d<\/p>\n Interior Secretary Doug Burgum<\/a> said the approach to the law had \u201cturned routine activity into a regulatory trap, drove up costs that impacted people\u2019s lives, and expanded federal authority beyond what Congress intended.<\/p>\n \u201cFor years, federal agencies abused the ESA to obstruct lawful land use and burden American families and businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick<\/a> added that the measure would benefit fishermen who suffered from \u201coverly broad and burdensome regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n The modification to the law, which potentially places protected species at the mercy of drilling, mining, farming and real estate interests, was met with uproar from environmentalists.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the first time ever, a presidential administration now claims that species protected by the Endangered Species Act shouldn\u2019t be safe from habitat modification that destroys where they live, raise their young, or search for food,\u201d Earthjustice attorney Kristen Boyles said<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no support for the Trump administration\u2019s rule \u2013 no scientific support, no legal support, no public support.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2227769623...jpeg\")
The step has been called \u2018a death sentence\u2019 for the monarch butterfly and other species living in sensitive habitats (Getty)<\/p>\n