At the White House on Thursday, at a dinner for outdoor industry executives held in the Rose Garden, President Trump read from a speech and told the audience that his new executive orders expand fishing seasons and fishing quotas, and roll back restrictions implemented by the Biden administration requiring lead-free ammunition or tackle at several national wildlife refuges.
Trump then looked at the crowd and said, “That means you can sell a lot of fishing rods, Johnny. You’re gonna sell a lot of rods. I could’ve made it so you couldn’t sell,” he laughed, “you couldn’t sell anything. I could’ve banned fishing. I’ll tell you what, the power of this office is crazy, I could’ve banned fishing and driven Johnny right the hell out of business, okay.”
The President laughed again and said, “I think I’m gonna do that, maybe just a quick order, just for a day or two until he calls me and says, ‘please, President, please, you’re putting me out of business, sir.’”
Trump: You have no restrictions. This order expands fishing seasons. That means you can sell a lot of fishing rods, Johnny. I could’ve made it so you couldn’t sell anything. I could’ve banned fishing. The power of this office is crazy, I could’ve banned fishing pic.twitter.com/BDX2xaW3cl
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) September 17, 2026
Johnny Morris, the billionaire founder, majority owner, and CEO of Bass Pro Shops, the hunting and fishing retail chain in the U.S. and Canada, contributed $200,000 to Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, among other Republican campaigns.
In addition to Morris, Fox News reported that the “100 outdoor-industry leaders” who attended the event were executives from the National Rifle Association, Beretta USA, USA Shooting Foundation, Polaris, the Cabela Family Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Yamaha Marine Group, Safari Club International, Primos Hunting, Dallas Safari Club, Outdoor Sportsman Group, Sportsmen’s Alliance, Ducks Unlimited, Sportsman Boats, Contender Boats, Taurus Holdings and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation.
