University of Utah
Robert Keiter is director of the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment and a professor of law at the University of Utah. He is the author of To Conserve Unimpaired: The Evolution of the National Park Idea.
A turf war over public lands Earlier this month, President Trump announced to a cheering crowd at the Utah state capitol that he would be removing hundreds of thousands of acres from two national monuments designated by previous Democratic presidents. The move was a triumph for many residents who live around the monuments and the federally controlled public lands. Many Utahans are still angry about the creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, created by President Bill Clinton in 1996. Trump’s action drastically reduces Clinton’s monument from nearly 1.9 million acres to just under a million. The Bears Ears Monument, designated by President Obama, will be chopped by as much as 85 percent, going from 1.3 million acres to just over 200 thousand acres. Trump’s executive orders have generated lots of controversy, and, already, several lawsuits.
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
Venezuela spirals into economic and political chaos Venezuela, a country whose potential for prosperity is unmatched, finds itself on the verge of civil war. What sustains the repressive government? With time running out, guest host León Krauze looks at what the international community can do to pull the country from the edge of collapse.