The Trump administration removed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth from next year’s schedule of free entrance days for national parks, then added President Donald Trump’s birthday, which happens to fall on Flag Day, on June 14.
The Department of the Interior announced the overhaul to the now “resident-only patriotic fee-free days” last month, adding new dates, including the Fourth of July weekend and President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday, but removing other days celebrating the department, such as the Bureau of Land Management’s birthday.
As the announcement notes, the fee-free days will apply only to U.S. citizens and residents. Nonresidents will have to pay, with some parks charging an additional $100 for each person over the age of 16.
While both MLK Day and Juneteenth have been included in the free days for at least the past two years, the changes come amid the Trump administration’s broader agenda to eliminate DEI initiatives.
Earlier this year, on Juneteenth, Trump launched a rant against the holiday that celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S., complaining that Americans have “too many non-working holidays.”
“It is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform on Thursday evening. “The workers don’t want it either! Soon we’ll end up having a holiday for every once [sic] working day of the year. It must change if we are going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump first made his anti-DEI intentions for the national parks clear in an executive order over the summer, revoking former President Barack Obama’s memorandum on Jan. 12, 2017, that was intended to promote DEI initiatives in the workforce.
According to a report published by USA Today on Saturday, citing an internal memo from the Department of the Interior, national parks were also ordered to remove gift shop items that support DEI initiatives.
The department told the outlet that the parks service is “conducting a common-sense review of retail items to ensure our gift shops remain neutral spaces that serve all visitors,” in order to comply with Secretary’s Order 3416, aimed to end “DEI programs and gender ideology extremism.”
“We’re working closely with our partners to make sure this process is smooth and doesn’t disrupt the visitor experience,” the department said. “If any items are found to be inconsistent with the Order, they are being removed from sale.”
