National Parks Cuts Free Entry For MLK Day But Adds Trump's Birthday

President Trump’s disrespect for any marginalized group to prop himself up continues, and his latest move comes at the detriment of America’s national parks.

Beginning in 2026, the country’s national parks will all have free admission on June 14, which is Trump’s birthday. However, the Trump administration is simultaneously removing Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day as days of free admission.

MLK Day was first designated a federal holiday in 1983 and is always on the third Monday of January, ensuring it’s near his January 15 birthday.

As for Juneteenth, President Biden signed it into law in 2021, and the June 19 holiday commemorates the date when enslaved people in Texas learned they’d been freed, some two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.

The updated list of freebie days is listed on the National Park Service website. Now the only fee-free days to the 400+ sites include the following:

• February 16: Presidents’ Day (Washington’s Birthday)
• May 25: Memorial Day
• June 14: Flag Day/President Trump’s birthday
• July 3–5: Independence Day weekend
• August 25: 110th Birthday of the National Park Service
• September 17: Constitution Day
• October 27: Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday
• November 11: Veterans Day

Another change that will undoubtedly affect tourism is that free admission will be limited to US citizens and residents.

It comes after Trump already signed an executive order to Make America Beautiful Again by “increasing entry fees for foreign tourists, improving affordability for United States residents, and expanding opportunities to enjoy America’s splendid national treasures.”

Of the more than 400 parks, about 100 have entry fees. So now international tourists who would usually pay around $20 or $30 to visit parks like Yosemite or Yellowstone will now have to pay $100 for entry.

See how social media is reacting to the changes below.