Moments after signing an executive order to push forward the intensely disputed Dakota Access pipeline, President Donald Trump ignored a reporter's question about Native American protesters who have fiercely opposed the project.

"Mr. Trump, any comment to the Standing Rock community and the protesters out there?" a reporter in the Oval Office asked after the president finished signing five executive orders.

Trump put his head down, pursed his lips and looked in the opposite direction. He then responded to a question about when he expected to make a Supreme Court nomination.

Members of the Standing Rock Sioux and other tribes, as well as environmentalists from around the country, have fought the pipeline project on the grounds that it crosses beneath a lake that provides drinking water to Native Americans. They say the route beneath Lake Oahe puts the water source in jeopardy and would destroy sacred land.

Tribal members and protesters have camped out for months in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, in opposition to the pipeline.



The Standing Rock Sioux tribe opposed Trump's executive action on Tuesday and vowed to take legal action, Reuters reported. A lawyer for the tribe said Trump acted "hastily and irresponsibly."