"Hmm...what other minority group can I screw over?"

Mr. Trump’s decision to reduce Bears Ears would be viewed as a victory for Republican lawmakers, fossil fuel companies and rural Westerners who argue that monument designations are federal land grabs that limit revenue and stifle local control. And it would be considered a defeat for many environmentalists and recreation groups and for the five Indian nations who have fought for generations to protect the Bears Ears region.

The Navajo Nation has vowed to challenge the decision in court, along with other tribes and conservation and outdoor industry groups.

“We will stand and fight all the way,” said Russell Begaye, president of the Navajo Nation, adding that the United States government had already taken “millions of acres of my people’s land.”