While the president has the ability to designate public lands as national monuments, it's unclear whether the Antiquities Act allows for the White House to rescind or diminish the size of previously designated monuments. Trump's agenda is being cheered by industry but enraging conservationists.
The United States now has about 157 national monuments, according to the National Park Service.
"The Antiquities Act does not give the federal government unlimited power to lock up millions of acres of land and water, and it's time we ended this abusive practice", Trump said, citing the 1908 law granting power to the president to create monuments.
The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorizes the president to declare federal lands as monuments and restrict how the lands can be used. "That's why the president is asking for a review", Zinke said, repeatedly stressing the need for local communities and state officials to have a voice in the process.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told reporters late on Tuesday that Trump's order would require him to conduct the review of around 30 national monuments created over the past two decades, and recommend which designations should be lifted or altered.
The executive order wouldn't eliminate the national monuments just yet, since the President doesn't have the power to do that.
"To mark his 100th day, President Trump is entering a legal, political and moral minefield", said Christy Goldfuss, who represents a political action committee associated with the liberal Center for American Progress.
Mr Obama placed 553 million acres under national monument protection during his presidency - more than any other United States president.
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Secretary of Interior, Ryan Zinke said the order does not strip any monuments of their current designation, or loosen environmental regulations. He has 120 days to issue a full report on all monuments to the president. "It starts with Bears Ears and Grand Staircase and only gets worse from there".
A protester at a rally in Monticello against the Bears Ears National Monument. Orrin Hatch and other members of Utah's Republican congressional delegation.
Despite the bland-sounding language, this anticipated order is perhaps the best encapsulation of how radical the Republican agenda became under Obama, and how the GOP obsession with denying the former president's legitimacy continues to define the party in general and Trump's presidency in particular.
Land near Bear Ears was previously approved for drilling by Texas-based EOG Resources. But Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) was in attendance at the signing ceremony.
He singled out Obama for using the monument designation to assert federal control over 265 million acres (107 million hectares), including maritime zones, particularly in the Pacific.
"I've spoken with many state and local leaders - a number of them here today - who care very much about preserving our land, and who are gravely concerned about this massive federal land grab", Trump said.
Conservation groups like the Wilderness Society criticized Trump's order.
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