Trump Ends Free National Park Access on MLK Day and Juneteenth

The National Park Service has removed Martin Luther King Junior Day and Juneteenth from its list of free entry days and replaced them with new dates including Donald Trump’s birthday, a shift critics say diminishes the importance of civil rights history while elevating a political figure. There has been no public explanation for why the two holidays were dropped, and beginning in 2026 free entry will apply only to United States citizens and residents, a change officials say is meant to place more cost on international visitors. Supporters of the parks worry that the decision sends a message about which parts of American history are valued and which communities are being pushed aside, especially at a time when broader efforts to erase or weaken the teaching of Black history are already underway.