President Donald Trump pledged in posts and remarks made Saturday to help Utah save its drying Great Salt Lake. But the president offered no details as to what aid might look like to address one of the Beehive State’s most pressing challenges.
Several hours after Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that he will work with Utah to make the ailing lake “GREAT AGAIN,” the president told governors at a dinner, “That is what I call a real environmental problem.”
“Saving the Great Salt Lake,” Trump continued, directing his comments to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, “that’s what we’re going to be doing, OK? So this was a good trip for you, governor.”
As Cox — who met with Trump over the weekend — and other Utah leaders spoke with reporters Monday, they gave more insight into Utah’s bid to attract assistance from the White House.
“I told [Trump] that it’s going to take funding to help us save the Great Salt Lake,” Cox said. “He didn’t flinch at that at all — said that he could be supportive of helping us secure the funding that we need, and we’re going to come back to him with a proposal."
Utah will draft its proposal over the next few months, Cox said. The number that Cox floated with Trump, he confirmed, was $1 billion.
Read Emily Anderson Stern's full story at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.