More than 300 elephant trophy import permits were issued in 2025 under Donald Trump’s second presidency, the most ever issued under the Trump administration.In 2017, after Trump called trophy hunting a “horror show,” his administration convened a pro-hunting board to rework import rules; it dissolved after a lawsuit. Now, Safari Club International has petitioned to dilute protections for elephants in the U.S. to facilitate trophy imports.Nearly two-thirds of the imported trophies came from Botswana, which renewed elephant hunting in 2018 after a brief pause.Since trophy hunters selectively target “supertuskers” — older males with the largest tusks — conservationists say they are being killed at a rate that raises concerns for the future of endangered savanna elephants.
The U.S. issued more than 300 elephant trophy import permits during the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to records obtained by U.S.-based NGO the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD). It’s the most ever issued on Trump’s watch in a year, and indicates that as many as 300 elephants were killed. Trophies are usually the taxidermied heads or feet, which hunters display in their homes as décor.
