Trump Team Says he Backs Disputed Dakota Access Oil Pipeline |

President-elect Donald Trump supports completion of the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline in the Midwest, a policy that a spokesman says is not related to Trump's investments in a partnership building the $3.8 billion pipeline.

Spokesman Bryan Lanza says in a memo to supporters Trump's backing for the pipeline near a North Dakota Indian reservation "has nothing to do with his personal investments" and is based on policy.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo.

Trump's federal disclosure forms show he owned a small amount of stock in Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline builder, and at least $100,000 in Phillips 66, which owns one-quarter of the pipeline.

Spokeswoman Hope Hicks said it is her understanding that Trump recently sold his Energy Transfer stock but provided no details.

The government has ordered protesters to leave federal land by Monday, although it's not clear what, if anything, authorities will do to enforce that mandate. Demonstrators insist they will stay for as long as it takes to divert the $3.8 billion pipeline, which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe believes threatens sacred sites and a river that provides drinking water for millions of people.

The pipeline is largely complete except for a short segment that is planned to pass beneath a Missouri River reservoir. The company doing the building says it is unwilling to reroute the project.

For several months, the government permitted the gathering, allowing its population to swell. The Seven Council Fires camp began growing in August as it took in the overflow crowd from smaller protest sites nearby. It now covers a half square mile, with living quarters that include old school buses, fancy motorhomes and domelike yurts. Hale bales are piled around some teepees to keep out the wind. There's even a crude corral for horses.

The number of inhabitants has ranged from several hundred to several thousand. It has been called the largest gathering of Native American tribes in a century.

Increasingly, more permanent wooden structures are being erected, even though the Army Corps of Engineers considers them illegal on government property. The Standing Rock Sioux insist the land still belongs to their tribe under a nearly 150-year-old treaty.