Trump signs controversial order allowing ranchers to kill wolves to protect cattle

President Donald Trump has signed an eyebrow-raising order making it ‘easier’ for ranchers to kill wolves to protect cattle. The signing is part of his administration’s efforts to lower domestic beef prices and limit livestock depletion.

Despite the World Land Trust claiming grey wolf populations (around 18,000 nationwide) are currently ‘stable’, the animal remains protected under the federal Endangered Species Act across much of the United States.

However, on 4 September, 80-year-old Trump called for a new directive and a review of the Endangered Species Act.

Seeking to declassify grey and Mexican wolves as endangered species, the Republican claimed during an Oval Office signing ceremony: “They’re destroying these businesses.

“You watch them go right through your herd, and they’re violent. It’s a violent situation.”

Trump, flanked by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, is attempting to make it easier for pastoral farmers and ranchers to protect their herds from the mammals.

Donald Trump's new Executive Order looks to protect ranchers (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Currently, tackling lethally constitutes a federal crime.

“The problem is, because they’re on the endangered species list, they can’t shoot them,” Rollins said of ranchers. “They have to sit and watch them destroy their herd.”

Trump claimed during the meeting that ranchers play a ‘vital role’ in the food supply chain and American cultural heritage.

He also signed the declassification Executive Order (E.O.) amid efforts to lower record-high bef prices in the country.

According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, ground beef was priced at $6.885 per pound in July 2026.

When Trump took office for the second time in January 2025, the average price per pound was $5.545, according to statistics.

Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany has praised the administration’s bold move, writing on social media: “Farmers are dealing with livestock depredations, families are losing pets, and wolves are showing up closer to homes.

Ranchers were described as playing a 'vital role in [the] Nation’s food supply chain and cultural heritage' (Getty Stock Image)

“Wisconsin knows how to successfully manage its wildlife. It’s time to let states responsibly manage their wolf populations.”

Meanwhile, Sara Amundson, the president of the Humane World Action Fund, has warned that the new E.O. will result in ‘untold death and cruelty for these animals’.

“Scapegoating wolves is a cynical and performative gesture given the immense harm that the Trump administration has inflicted on our nation's ranchers with irresponsible tariffs,” she stated.

“Fewer than 1 percent of cows and sheep are killed by wild carnivores, including wolves, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.”

Amundson continued, claiming that gray wolves should not have to take the fall for an administration ‘whose reckless tariff policies have made life unnecessarily hard for American ranchers’.

Kitty Block, president and CEO of Humane World for Animals, added that the war on wolves needs to come to an end, not esculate.

Animal campaigners have defended grey wolves

“They remain absent from much of their historic range and vulnerable to the same cruel trophy hunting, recreational trapping, bounties and other relentless killing that nearly wiped them out of the lower 48 states,” she said.

“Rolling back federal protections now—or setting that process in motion—would jeopardize decades of recovery and open the door for brutal killing,” Block added, explaining that grey wolves are ‘essential to healthy ecosystems’.

“Decisions about their survival should be based on science, not political favors to farmers and ranchers whose livelihoods are threatened not by wolves but by tone-deaf global trade policies.”