October 26, 2026 — The Trump administration last week published its notice finalizing the first deep-sea mining lease sale of over 31 million acres of seabed off of American Samoa on Nov. 19.
Nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice filed a lawsuit that same afternoon seeking to block it, representing Faleula o le Manu‘atele, a council of Samoan leaders, and Fa‘asao Amerika Samoa and Conservation Council for Hawai‘i.
Samoa’s lease sale will proceed about a month before the Dec. 16 mineral lease auction that the Trump administration wants to do for about 67 million acres of seafloor surrounding the Marianas.