Radio host Michael Savage took credit Saturday for President Donald Trump's halt on lifting the ban on trophies of elephants killed in two African countries, telling Newsmax: "Thank God that Trump did the right thing."
"I'm glad he made the decision that led to the tweet," Savage, a longtime conservationist and animal-rights activist, told Newsmax in an exclusive interview. "I'm glad he heard the show and read the column."
Savage said Trump's Friday tweet announcing his decision came while he was at dinner. "It was a godsend."
President Trump said late Friday that he was putting a decision on lifting the ban announced Wednesday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service "on hold" pending a review of "all conservation facts."
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke later said in a statement, also on Twitter, that "President Trump and I have talked and both believe that conservation and healthy herds are critical.
"As a result, in a manner compliant with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, the issuing of permits is put on hold as the decision is being reviewed."
The Obama administration imposed the restriction on trophies of legally hunted elephants in Zimbabwe and Zambia in 2014 — saying the U.S. lacked information on conservation efforts — and two years later banned nearly all commercial trade in African elephant ivory.
Trophies, however, were exempted from the 2016 ban, The New York Times reports.
In announcing its decision, Fish and Wildlife said that despite African elephants being considered "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act, hunting them in those nations now would "enhance the survival of the species in the wild."
Savage, a longtime animal-rights activist, told Newsmax Saturday that "I went on the assault" after the initial announcement.
He said he slammed the decision relentlessly for two days on his three-hour nationally syndicated radio show, waged war on Facebook and Twitter, and wrote a Newsmax column on the subject Thursday.
"I was not mincing words," Savage said. "I said: 'If you do this, you will probably not make it out of your first term without being impeached.'
"Not everything Obama did was bad — and not everything Trump did was good."
In his Newsmax column, Savage argued that lifting the restriction would "open the door to Americans going over there to hunt endangered big game.
"I am sickened by this and I have to go straight to the top. Mr. President, you’re just plain wrong.
"Everything the Left says about the insensitive, Earth-killing, animal-destroying, oafish Republican is coming to fruition all in one move," Savage added. "Who advised you on this Mr. President?
"Stop the importation of elephant trophies and stop it NOW.
"If you do not do this, you will forever lose the independent, animal-loving voter."
He told Newsmax Saturday that "conservation belongs to conservatives.
"But the anti-conservation crowd came along, and we have it."
"Trump promised he would undo all the environmental regulations Obama put in," Savage added. "He put Zinke in there — and here we go.
"It's an abomination. It's crazy.
"You can't roll back every environmental regulation, and say that it's free-market," Savage told Newsmax. "We can't go back 75 years.
"Some of the environmental regulations are stupid, but not everything is."
Moving forward, however, the focus must be on ending ivory imports to China and stopping poachers, Savage said.
"We have to lobby China to stop buying ivory, because that's where most of the ivory ends up from elephants and rhinos," he said. "We have to really put pressure on China.
"The poachers in Africa could care less," Savage continued. "They have no feelings for these animals.
"You can't talk to poachers," he said, adding that former Navy SEALS are being hired to kill them.
"This is how serious it's gotten," the talk-show host told Newsmax. "It's become a life-or-death situation for the West to protect these elegant animals."
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