President Donald Trump said it was “very important to save The Great Salt Lake” in a social media post on Saturday, and said he would work with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to make sure the lake is healthy.
Trump also praised Cox, calling him “very caring,” and the people of Utah, whom he called “spectacular,” saying they “deserve to be helped.”
“Very important to save The Great Salt Lake in Utah. This is an Environmental hazard that must be worked on, IMMEDIATELY — It is of tremendous interest to me," the president posted on Truth Social. “The people of Utah are spectacular, and they deserve to be helped. I am dealing with your very caring Governor, Spencer Cox, and we are going to make it all happen!”
Trump signed the post: “MAKE “THE LAKE” GREAT AGAIN! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP"
Later Saturday, at a dinner at the White House attended by Cox, Trump again brought up the Great Salt Lake.
“We’re going to save the Great Salt Lake, you know that right,” Trump said during his remarks.
“He came into see me today ... ‚” he said, speaking of Cox, “’Sir, we have to save the Great Salt Lake.’ I said, ‘explain this to me.’ ... He said, ‘we’re losing water rapidly, rapidly and it’s getting smaller, smaller, drier, drier.’
“You tell those people we’re going to work on it really hard, we’re going to save it, we’re not going to let that go,” Trump said. “That is what I call a real environmental problem. Not using hairspray and I’m going to ruin the ozone. ... Saving the Great Salt Lake, that’s what we’re going to be doing.”
Cox responded to the president with a post of his own, thanking the president and pledging his support to rehabilitate the lake.
“We will not let the lake fail. Period,” he said. “Thank you @POTUS for helping Utahns save the Great Salt Lake.”
The governor and state Legislature continue to try to stop the decline of the Great Salt Lake, changing laws around conservation, agriculture and water usage to increase the flow of water into the lake. They have also received criticism from those who say they aren’t doing enough.
Cox was in Washington, D.C., this week for the annual National Governors Association meeting, which included a Friday morning business meeting at the White House.
The governor’s spokesperson said Cox has had several opportunities to talk to the president this week, where they spoke about the Great Salt Lake and other issues related to Utah.
Details on how the president might be willing to help preserve the lake, or specific promises made to the governor, were not immediately available.
Cox also spoke at a Pew Charitable Trusts/Disagree Better event on Wednesday, alongside Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, and at a Politico event on Thursday.
Trump initially disinvited Moore and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis from attending the Friday morning White House meeting, leading the NGA to say it would cancel the event, but Trump reversed his decision and the meeting was held as planned.
Cox and Trump’s changing relationship
Cox and Trump did not always see eye to eye. The governor refused to endorse the president in 2020 and said he did not vote for him in 2016 or 2020.
But ahead of the 2024 election, Cox reached out to Trump after the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. In a private letter to the president he encouraged him to “unify and save our country,” and also pledged to endorse Trump, which he later did.
Since endorsing the president, Cox has taken a more conciliatory approach, working closely with the administration on some issues like energy and the environment, while pushing back on others like the regulation of artificial intelligence and gambling.
Cox also worked directly with Trump after the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University last September.
When asked at the Politico event on Thursday whether he believes Trump has unified the country like Cox asked him to in his letter, Cox said, “No, no, and he wouldn’t say that either.”
“It’s certainly aspirational and hopeful in the conversation that we had, and he and I have had these conversations. I’m grateful to have a relationship with him that ... I can push back,” Cox said. “And look, specifically during the Charlie Kirk shooting, I think it was a dark time, it was a tragic time. He and I disagreed on some things and he knows that, again, he would tell you if he were sitting here right next to me. In fact, he said it in Charlie Kirk’s memorial.
“He said ‘Charlie would be mad at me because he wanted me to forgive my enemies and I hate my enemies.’ And so he and I differ on that, he knows that,” Cox continued. “I know that I still believe that he is a very unique person, a very unique candidate, very unique president, someone who, if he put his mind to it, could do more to unify.”
At the Pew event on Wednesday, Cox continued his call for increased service and civility, and encouraged Americans to try to find common ground with those they disagree with.