Fact Check

President Trump Signs Executive Order Allowing the Hunting of Bald Eagles?

A hoax article reported that U.S. President Trump signed legislation allowing people to hunt the national bird.

Published May 8, 2017

 (rokopix / Shutterstock.com)
Image Via rokopix / Shutterstock.com
Claim:
President Trump signed an executive order permitting people to hunt the national bird.

In May 2017, StGeorgeGazette.com published an article which appeared to report that President Trump had signed an executive order allowing people to hunt bald eagles:

“There’s nothing more American and more of a symbol of freedom, than having the freedom to hunt and kill a bald eagle,” Trump told reporters. “This will allow Americans to take advantage of their Second Amendment rights in the most Patriotic way possible. Plus the taste is absolutely tremendous, a great bird, the best tasting bird. I ate one the last time I was in China, absolutely delicious.”

The article included a video to add legitimacy to the claim, showing Trump signing something (although it wasn't legislation allowing Americans to hunt bald eagles)

The story is not real, although the many links and the video included did add something of a veneer of respectability to an entirely fake article. The site used February 2017 footage of Trump signing an executive order to create regulatory reform task forces, and then added audio about a fictional bald eagle order and a fake tweet from a hoax account to further bolster the claim.

A list of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump since he took office in January 2017 can be found on the official White House web site. Trump did not sign any executive orders at all on 8 May 2017, let alone one that would permit the hunting of the national bird of the United States.

Although bald eagles are no longer endangered or even threatened, they are protected by federal law, which prohibits buying, selling, harming, disturbing, or killing bald (or golden) eagles without the proper permits.

Sources

Pramuk, Jacob.   "Trump Signs Another Executive Order to Further Slash Regulations."     NBC News.   24 February 2017.

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.