Trump adds his birthday to list of free national park entry days – while axing MLK Day and Juneteenth in move slammed by civil rights leaders
National Park fee-free days will now include Donald Trump’s birthday, in a move that has outraged civil rights leaders after Martin Luther King Jr day and Juneteenth were slashed from the list.
Trump’s birthday on June 14, which also marks Flag Day, was announced as a newly implemented free entry day for National Parks, according to the National Park Service website.
The new addition came with the controversial removal of MLK Jr day, a long-standing fee-free entry day, and Juneteenth, which was put on the calendar in 2024 under the Biden administration.
President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day weekend, the 110th birthday of the National Park Service, Constitution Day, Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday and Veterans Day were also included on this years fee-free days list.
The move to cut MLK Jr day and Juneteenth, which has already drawn heavy criticism from civil rights leaders, is one of the latest efforts of the Trump administration’s mission to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion.
Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto wrote on X: ‘Let’s be clear here: both MLK Jr. Day and Juneteenth were free entry days last year.’
‘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. Our country deserves better,’ she continued.
The new calendar also struck the first day of National Park Week, the Bureau of Land Management’s birthday, Great American Outdoors Day, National Public Lands Day and the first Sunday of National Wildlife Refuge Week, CNN reported.
Fee-free entry, as of 2026, will only be for US citizens and permanent residents, the park service website noted.
President Donald Trump’s birthday and Flag Day, both on June 14, is now a fee-free entry day at National Parks
Yosemite National Park, seen above, is one of eleven parks implementing foreign visitor fees as part of an ‘America-first’ fee system
Yellowstone National Park, seen above, is another of the parks set to implement a foreign visitors fee
Civil rights leaders have condemned the move to slash the ‘holidays that mark Black Americans’ struggle for civil rights and freedom’ from the fee-free days
The controversial changes come as the Trump administration announced that National Parks will charge non US citizens or permanent residents an $100 fee at eleven favorite parks.
In July, the administration urged the park service to begin charging entry fees for foreign visitors, CBS News reported.
The announcement was also coupled with an order to the Department of the Interior from Trump to give citizens and residents of the US ‘preferential treatment.’
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on X that the change would ‘ensure that US taxpayers, who already support [NPS], continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations!’
The annual park passes would remain $80 for citizens and residents, but cost foreign visitors $250 in what the department dubbed the ‘America-first’ fee system.
In May, the Department of the Interior projected that the foreign fee would generate more than $90 million each year, the outlet reported.
According to the NPS, the parks set to implement the foreign visitor fee include Acadia National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Everglades National Park, Glacier National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Parks, and Zion National Park.
