US park service to offer free entry on Trump's birthday but revokes it for MLK Day and Juneteenth
Category: Travel, Geography and Foreign Cultures
Via: bob-nelson • 11 months ago • 19 commentsBy: the Guardian
Civil rights leaders decry administration's move to downplay Black American history and promote president
This is embarassing.
Disgusting.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
People hike at Glacier national park in Montana. Photograph: Beth J Harpaz/AP
The US’s National Park Service (NPS) will offer free admission to US residents on Donald Trump’s birthday in 2026 – which also happens to be Flag Day – but is eliminating the benefit for Martin Luther King Jr Day and Juneteenth.
The new list of free admission days for Americans is the latest example of the Trump administration downplaying America’s civil rights history while also promoting the president’s image, name and legacy.
In 2024, the list of free days included Martin Luther King Jr Day and the emancipation celebration Juneteenth – which is 19 June – but not 14 June, Trump’s birthday.
The new free-admission policy takes effect on 1 January and was one of several changes announced by the park service late in November, including higher admission fees for international visitors.
The other days of free park admission in 2026 are Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, Veterans Day, President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday (27 October) and the anniversary of the creation of the park service (25 August).
Eliminating Martin Luther King Jr Day and Juneteenth, which commemorates the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Americans were emancipated, removes two of the nation’s most prominent civil rights holidays.
Civil rights leaders voiced opposition to the change after news about it began spreading over the weekend.
“The raw & rank racism here stinks to high heaven,” Cornell William Brooks, a Harvard Kennedy School professor and former president of the NAACP, wrote on social media about the new policy.
Kristen Brengel, a spokesperson for the National Parks Conservation Association, said that while presidential administrations have tweaked the free days in the past, the elimination of Martin Luther King Jr Day is particularly concerning. For one, the day has become a popular day of service for community groups that use the free day to perform volunteer projects at parks.
That will now be much more expensive, said Brengel, whose organization is a non-profit that advocates for the park system.
“Not only does it recognize an American hero, it’s also a day when people go into parks to clean them up,” Brengel said. “Martin Luther King Jr deserves a day of recognition … For some reason, Black history has repeatedly been targeted by this administration, and it shouldn’t be.”
Some Democratic lawmakers also weighed in to object to the new policy.
“The president didn’t just add his own birthday to the list, he removed both of these holidays that mark Black Americans’ struggle for civil rights and freedom,” said Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democratic US senator of Nevada. “Our country deserves better.”
A spokesperson for the National Park Service did not immediately respond to questions over the weekend seeking information about the reasons behind the changes.
Since taking office, Trump has sought to eliminate programs seen as promoting diversity across the federal government, actions that have erased or downplayed America’s history of racism as well as the civil rights victories of Black Americans.
Self-promotion is an old habit of the president’s and one he has continued in his second term. He unsuccessfully put himself forward for the Nobel peace prize, renamed the US Institute of Peace after himself, sought to put his name on the planned NFL stadium in the nation’s capital and had a new children’s savings program named after him.
Some Republican lawmakers have suggested putting his visage on Mount Rushmore and the $100 bill.
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All hail our Mad King!
Trump continues to illustrate just how much power a PotUS has to cause damage and disrupt this nation. In the past, our PotUS' have respected the office, protocol, dignity, tradition, and the rule of law.
But not this asshole. And we are seeing just how weak the USA is in constraining a PotUS who does not give a shit about anyone or anything but himself and will freely abuse the power of the office and then lie about it.
We are also seeing how those that claimed they didn't vote for Trump, or Carmella, FCKD the rest of US all as they stated he can't be taken seriously, he was just joking, or exaggerating, or you can't take him literally, what he was really saying was.... Guess what, they, as well as all of his Cult members and the entire GOP are just so GUILTY of bringing this DISGRACE upon US All in the SECOND PLACE.
WTF.../?
There is SO MUCH WRONG with this POS potUS
Mt Rushmore......????
How about naming a PRISON after Trump, and inserting him in it!
Ooooo....a supermax! In Alaska! Way up north like Nome
so he can see Russia from his sell window where he was bought n brought by the one who Putin he in office the first non merry go around. Seward sold see shells buy the sewer Grate Trump capped, while blowin Bubba till he Double Tapped....
Here we go again.
Trump's birthday is also Flag Day, That is the real reason for the free day,
Are you implying Trump is gay
Cool. Then just add that day. Why is it also necessary to remove the only days honoring black Americans?
I know, right? To blatantly repeat that lie is asinine
Do they really believe it? Are they that delusional? It's hard to imagine.
But what are the alternatives? Do they imagine that they will convince anyone? That would be hilarious, but it's just as delusional.
My own conclusion is that this is like a kamikazee who knows he will not survive, and probably do no harm at all to the enemy... but takes on the mission all the same.
Duty to the Emperor.
I think it is indeed just a stupid game to support their party no matter what. And that necessarily means defending Trump no matter what.
There is no sense to this other than the belief that some naïve souls will believe their bullshit. Their arguments are fallacious. Their 'facts' are fantasies and lies.
I have come to believe that they are intentionally using Trump's profoundly dishonest tactics because lying and cheating works.
It looks, based on the polls, that the numbers of naïve souls is diminishing. (Let's hope that is the case.)
Indeed.
MAGA faithful: “How dare you suggest Trump is racist?!”
That’s how.
I've never paid to get into a National Park or anything run by the Park Service.
I didn't realize we had admission fees to waive.
Where do they charge admission?
Entrance Fees by Park (U.S. National Park Service)
here is a list for you . this does not include fees for other types of activity such as camping , hiking , boat launching and the such.