President Donald Trump has brought attention to the fact that he wants to save the Great Salt Lake (GSL). According to Salt Lake reporters from Fox 13, Trump stated, “MAKE THE LAKE GREAT AGAIN,” and has promised to speak to Utah Governor Spencer Cox.
Cox said to reporters, “We promise to work closely together,” after a meeting at the state capital. Fox 13 reporter Spencer Burt stated, “It’s going to take funding to help us save the Great Salt Lake.” Cox, a Republican, said that he and the president talked about a potential one billion dollar funding allocation.
In 2026, the lake began its third lowest level (Utah news dispatch) ever recorded due to decades of drought, climate change, and city industries. The lake bed contains arsenic, mercury, and lead, raising public health concerns about all the dust that flies into local neighborhoods. The Great Salt Lake is becoming an environmental hazard and needs to be addressed.
Isla Holladay, a Freshman at Skyline High School, stated, “While it’s good, I think that Trump should put more effort into stronger things that will help climate change.” Though some people think Trump should focus on broader climate issues, other people disagree, like Freshman Lara Mehinovic. Mehinovic said, “I think there needs to be more attention to it and that people in Utah don’t know a lot about the Great Salt Lake, so they should learn more.”
The big idea is that Holladay thinks that Trump should focus more on bigger pictures and things that will be able to help out the climate more and not be so focused on the GSL. However, Mehinovic thinks that more people in Utah should know about the GSL and be helping out with this project. The lake hasn’t been at a “healthy” level since 2002 (Utah News Dispatch). More than 800 square miles of dry bed has been exposed, which means dangerous particles can get into the air, harming many people. Trump ended his interview with the Utah news dispatch by stating, “Saving the Great Salt Lake that’s what we are going to be doing.” Trump is working with Cox to see what they can collectively do to fix this issue.
