Slavery exhibits at President's House can be replaced by Trump administration, Third Circuit rules

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

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Slavery exhibits at President’s House can be replaced by Trump administration, Third Circuit rules

The three-judge panel unanimously agreed to toss out an injunction that ordered the National Park Service to restore interpretive panels telling the story of nine people enslaved at the site.


Workers re-hang panels at the President’s House in Independence National Historical Park in February.

Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
by Abraham Gutman and Fallon Roth
Updated June 18, 2026, 11:42 a.m. ET | Published June 18, 2026, 10:57 a.m. ET

President Donald Trump’s administration can replace the slavery exhibit it removed in January from George Washington’s Philadelphia Executive Mansion, a federal appeals court ruled.

A three-judge Third Circuit Court of Appeals panel unanimously agreed Thursday to toss out an injunction issued by a Philadelphia district court judge in February that ordered the National Park Service to restore interpretive panels telling the history of the nine individuals who were enslaved by Washington at the President’s House.

The judges further found that the federal government’s proposed replacement panels, which historians say whitewash Washington’s role in slavery, “are full of historical context.”

The proposed panels“highlight the momentous events that took place in the President’s House and the other sites at Independence National Historical Park,” Judge Thomas M. Hardiman, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote in the opinion.(1) “They acknowledge the evil of slavery, including its injustices and hypocrisies, and, by telling the story of the nine slaves that Washington kept in the President’s House, remind us of their essential humanity.”

{snip}

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Interior simply said: “Trust in Trump.”

{snip}

(1) https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca3.127203/gov.uscourts.ca3.127203.112.0.pdf

Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/politics/nation/slavery-exhibit-replacement-presidents-house-philadelphia-third-circuit-court-ruling-20260618.html?id=HEdt0PvpJLMPK&utm_source=social&utm_campaign=gift_link&utm_medium=referral

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Miranda Yaver
‪@mirandayaver.bsky.social‬

This is some Fifth Circuit-level bullshit.

‪Abraham Gutman‬
‪@abgutman.bsky.social‬
· 1h
🚨 BREAKING: 3rd Circuit allows Trump to replace slavery exhibits it removed from George Washington's Philadelphia mansion ahead of July 4.

The new panels say Washington's slaves had more "autonomy" and "even attend the theater, with Washington buying the tickets."

w/ @fallonroth.bsky.social 🎁🔗

Slavery exhibits at President’s House can be replaced by Trump administration, Third Circuit rules
The three-judge panel unanimously agreed to toss out an injunction that ordered the National Park Service to restore interpretive panels telling the story of nine people enslaved at the site.
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12:00 PM · Jun 18, 2026
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This is some Fifth Circuit-level bullshit.

— Miranda Yaver (@mirandayaver.bsky.social) 2026-06-18T16:00:26.628Z