William Brangham:

The announcement comes after Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke completed a months-long review of 27 different national monuments across the country.

Today, the president took aim at two different spots in Utah. The first is Bears Ears, which was declared a national monument a year ago by then President Obama. Today, Trump proposed shrinking the 1.3 million-acre monument by 85 percent, turning it into two smaller separate monuments.

The second is Grand Staircase-Escalante, designated by President Clinton in 1996. Its 1.8 million acres will be reduced by almost half, and split into three smaller pockets of land.

Both Obama and Clinton declared these monuments using the Antiquities Act of 1906, which gives the president broad legal authority to protect historic landmarks, including cultural and natural resources that sit on public lands.

But, today, President Trump, who had the full support of Utah's all-Republican congressional delegation, again argued that these prior designations amounted to a federal land grab. He argued these lands are better managed locally, not from Washington, D.C.