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National Park Service Will offer free admission to US residents chairman donald trumpnext year’s birthday – 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 undermining America’s civil rights history while also promoting the president’s image, name and legacy.
Last year, the list of free days included Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth — which is June 19 — but not June 14, Trump’s birthday.
The new free-admission policy goes into effect Jan. 1 and was one of several changes announced by the Park Service late last month, which also included a higher entrance fee for international visitors.
Other days with free park admission in 2026 are Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day, Veterans Day, President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday (October 27) and the anniversary of the creation of the Park Service (August 25).
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.
Some civil rights leaders voiced opposition to the change after news of it spread over the weekend.
Harvard Kennedy School professor Cornell William Brooks, a former president of the NAACP, wrote on social media about the new policy, “The raw and nasty racism here is sky high.”
National Park Conservation Association spokeswoman Kristen Brengle said that although presidential administrations have made changes to free days in the past, eliminating Martin Luther King Jr. Day is particularly worrisome. For one, the day has become a popular day of service for community groups who use the free day to complete volunteer projects in the parks.
It would be much more expensive now, said Brengle, whose organization is a nonprofit that advocates for the park system.
“Not only does it recognize an American hero, but it’s also a day when people go to the parks and clean them up,” Brengle said. “Martin Luther King Jr. deserves a day of recognition… For some reason, black history has been targeted again and again by this administration, and that should not be the case.”
Some Democratic lawmakers also objected to the new policy.
“The president not only added his birthday to the list, he also removed both of these holidays that mark the struggle of black Americans for civil rights and freedom,” said Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. “Our country deserves better.”
A spokesperson for the National Park Service did not immediately respond to questions Saturday seeking information about the reasons behind the changes.
Since taking office, Trump has sought to eliminate programs that promote diversity in 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 and he has continued it in his second term as well. He unsuccessfully put himself forward for the Nobel Peace Prize, named the US Institute of Peace after himself, sought to have his name placed on a planned NFL stadium in the nation’s capital and named a new savings program for children after himself.
Some Republican lawmakers have suggested putting his face on Mount Rushmore and the $100 bill.