Not only the Utah that we are today, but the Utah that we can choose to become.

President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order on Monday afternoon shrinking the size of two national monuments in Utah, which currently cover a combined 5,094 square miles, the Deseret News confirmed on background with a Utah source.

The two national monuments — Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears — have oscillated in size through the previous several presidential administrations.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was created by President Bill Clinton in September 1996. Bears Ears National Monument was created by President Barack Obama in December 2016. Both designations received a mixed reception among Utahns.

In 2017, Trump reduced Bears Ears by about 85% and Grand Staircase by about 46%.

Then when former President Joe Biden took office in 2021, he restored them to their original sizes.

Trump is expected to sign the executive orders in the Oval Office on Monday at 4:30 EST.

In a statement to the Deseret News on Friday, the White House said, “Any policy announcement will come directly from the President. This reporting about potential executive orders is pure speculation.”

National monument designations place restrictions on what recreational and economic activity residents and visitors can do on the land. The designation also prohibits anyone from pursuing new mining claims, oil and gas leasing, coal exploration or new commercial infrastructure projects.

However, the Bureau of Land Management previously found that Bears Ears and Grand Staircase have little to offer in terms of oil and gas potential, the Deseret News previously reported.

For nearly three decades since Clinton designated the first monument, Utah’s federal delegation has asked for reductions in land size for more local control, recreation and grazing.

Recently, Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy challenged the monument’s resource management plan to return to a plan the first Trump administration outlined in 2020 with help from local Utahns.

However, her bill died after missing a key deadline to make it to the Senate for a vote.

People react to the potential land reduction

Based on an initial report by ABC4, environmental groups are already vocalizing their disapproval over a potential reduction of monument land.

Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance Executive Director Scott Braden described the potential executive order as “unlawful, unwise and unacceptable,” in a press release sent to the Deseret News.

“This action will only bring uncertainty and chaos to places that should instead be protected for their rich biodiversity, unique geology, and remarkable cultural values,” he wrote. Braden said SUWA was preparing to fight the executive order through lawsuits or by lobbying in Congress.

On X, former Utah state Sen. Nate Blouin referenced the land reduction in conjunction with the Babylon Fire, which as of Friday is 25% contained and has covered more than 100,000 acres in southeastern Utah.

“As the largest wildfire in the U.S. burns pristine landscapes in southeastern Utah, Trump is threatening to shrink both Grand Staircase & Bears Ears National Monuments,” Blouin wrote. “This unprecedented move is happening without input from the region’s ancestral inhabitants.

PROVO — The preliminary hearing for Tyler Robinson is expected to wrap up Friday morning in Provo. But it will still be several weeks before a decision is made on whether there is enough probable cause to bind him over for trial.

Robinson, 23, is charged with 10 crimes, the most serious being aggravated murder, in the death of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed on the campus of Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025. A preliminary hearing is held to determine whether there is sufficient probable cause to go to trial on the charges levied against a defendant.

The Utah County Attorney’s Office finished calling their witnesses to testify on Thursday. Robinson’s defense team, who have already called two forensic experts from the FBI and ATF to testify, are expected to call one more on Friday before resting. Robinson has been attempting to cast doubt on the reliability of DNA testing, arguing that test results are subjective.

Prosecutors have objected several times to the line of questioning, arguing that it falls well outside the bounds of what is needed for a preliminary hearing. Even 4th District Judge Tony Graf warned defense attorney Michael Burt on Thursday during one line of questioning, “I feel we are exiting the orbit of probable cause.”

At the end of a preliminary hearing, both sides typically give closing arguments, and the judge decides if there is enough evidence for a defendant to proceed to trial. On Thursday, Graf granted a defense motion for each side to first submit briefs summarizing their arguments. The state will submit its brief by July 28, followed by the defense’s reply on Aug. 11 and the state’s rebuttal on Aug. 18. After that, another hearing will be held on Sept. 1 for both sides to present their cases in court.

Also on Thursday, portions of the video interview of Robinson’s roommate and boyfriend at the time of Kirk’s death, Lance Twiggs, were shown to the courtroom after much debate.

In addition, screenshots of the text messages exchanged between Twiggs and Robinson, a note Robinson left for Twiggs and messages on Discord that Robinson allegedly sent to his friend group prior to turning himself in, were all displayed in court.

For each piece of evidence introduced during the week-long hearing, Graf has had to decide:

1. Whether to admit that evidence into the record;
2. Whether that evidence should be shown to everyone in the courtroom;
3. Whether that evidence can be filmed by the livestream camera broadcasting the hearing.

Robinson’s defense team remains adamant that broadcasting evidence to people outside the courtroom will jeopardize their client’s right to a fair trial by prejudging a future jury pool. Prosecutors want the evidence shown to everyone for the sake of transparency. Graf has compromised on several pieces of evidence by allowing them to be displayed to people in the courtroom but not on the livestream feed.

The extended debates over what evidence can be shown to the public and what is only viewed by attorneys and the judge have prompted Jeff Neiman, the attorney for Erika Kirk and the Kirk family, to address the courtroom several times, both in person and in a briefing filed Wednesday night, calling on the court to make all evidence public.

“For 10 months, the victim’s family has waited for this preliminary hearing. Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, and his grieving parents traveled to this courtroom for one reason: to be present at these proceedings and to bear witness to the evidence concerning the death of their husband and son. At certain points throughout the preliminary hearing, the Kirk family sat in the room while evidence was admitted but not presented for their viewing. They were present in body, yet denied the very thing their presence was meant to secure: their ability to meaningfully observe the preliminary hearing,” Neiman said. “The victim’s family’s position is simple. At a minimum, every exhibit entered into evidence during the preliminary hearing must be visible to every person lawfully present in the courtroom.”

Erika Kirk and Charlie Kirk’s parents have been in the courtroom all week for the preliminary hearing.

At Neiman’s request, Graf agreed that at the end of court on Friday, he will show to the courtroom only the enhanced UVU surveillance video allegedly showing Robinson’s movements across the roof of the Losee Center and when he drops off the roof and runs to a wooded area off Campus Drive. The video includes moments in which film editors zoom in on the alleged gunman and impose a red circle around him to make it easier to view. The video was originally submitted as evidence but was only shown to Graf and attorneys.

Friday’s hearing begins at 9 a.m. Watch it livestreamed here: