Trump Admin Scrubs MLK Day and Juneteenth From Park List — But Magically Saves His Own Birthday

President Donald Trump’s birthday will be a free admission day at national parks in 2026, while Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth have been removed from the fee free calendar. The National Park Service published the new list for 116 parks that charge entrance fees.

The agency published the new list on its website and it covers 116 parks that charge entrance fees. The page lists Presidents Day, Memorial Day, June 14, the July 4 weekend, the 110th birthday of the Park Service, Constitution Day and Veterans Day as fee free dates.

The Department of the Interior said the changes follow an executive order meant to increase access for U.S. residents and to raise revenue from overseas visitors. The department announced that nonresidents without an annual pass will pay an extra one hundred dollars to enter eleven of the most visited parks beginning January 1, 2026.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum framed the move as a simple fairness matter. “President Trump’s leadership always puts American families first,” he said. “These policies ensure that U.S. taxpayers, who already support the National Park System, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations.”

Critics said the calendar change mixes politics with public places. The National Parks Conservation Association asked for more details about how parks will check residency and how staff will handle extra steps at gates. The group warned the plan could create confusion at busy entrances and strain already thin staff.

The shift also removes long standing free days that marked civil rights and Black history. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021 and MLK Day has been observed for decades. For many people those dates were a predictable way to visit a national site at no cost.

Those removed days were not just free entry days. Martin Luther King Jr. Day gives people a regular chance to visit memorials and join ranger programs that teach civil rights history, and Juneteenth marks the end of slavery and became a federal holiday in 2021. For families, schools and community groups, those free days made museums, memorials and historic sites easier to reach and to use for learning and ceremony.

Supporters say the changes will protect parks and focus benefits on people who pay taxes. The department called the new list resident only patriotic fee free days and said the aim is to keep parks affordable for U.S. taxpayers. Critics, however, called the label and the idea of charging overseas visitors punitive.

The extra fees for nonresidents include a new nonresident annual pass priced at two hundred fifty dollars, up from the standard eighty dollar pass available to U.S. residents. Parks and tourism groups warned that higher costs could reduce international visitors and hurt small businesses that rely on park traffic.

President Trump has argued that some federal holidays cost the country too much. “It is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed,” he wrote on Truth Social on June 19. That comment was widely read after his administration began rolling back diversity policies and revising holiday observances.

Park advocates also worry about the practical work this will create. Will park staff check passports at remote gates? Will digital passes work where there is no internet service? Groups say the National Park Service must answer simple operational questions before the plan starts.

Featured image via X screengrab.