‘Trump’s birthday' or ‘Flag Day’? National Park Service's 2026 free-entry list sparks row
The National Park Service has announced ‘resident-only patriotic fee-free days’ for 2026 where June 14, Flag Day and President Trump's birthday, is listed.
The National Park Service has announced the ‘resident-only patriotic fee-free days’ for 2026, which will allow US residents to gain free entry into parks that normally charge a fee. Among the dates listed is June 14 which is President Donald Trump's birthday and Flag Day. This has replaced January 20, Martin Luther King's birthday and Juneteenth, sparking a row online.
“Come experience the national parks! All National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee will offer free admission to everyone (other fees, including timed entry or reservation fees, may apply),” NPS announced on its website, adding that nonresidents would have to pay the regular entrance fee and any other applicable fees.
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Notably, Trump's White House responded, amid the row, to Peter Baker, Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times, who had written on X“Trump administration makes Trump's birthday a free-admission day for national parks while canceling free admission for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, according to park service web site.” They replied, saying, “It’s Flag Day, you insufferable moron — which also happens to be President Trump’s birthday. But you already knew that.”
However, Trump's White House has been unable to quell the disquiet, with one person questioning that if celebrating Flag Day was the point, then why Trump's birthday was listed alongside it on the NPS website.
Others too raised a row over it. Notably, President Trump was born on June 14, 1946.
Reactions to June 14 free entry news
One person remarked on X, “The Trump administration just removed two national holidays (MLK and Juneteenth) as free entry days to National Parks and put his birthday as a free day instead. Yes, this is actually real.”
Another remarked, “Unreal stuff but totally on brand smh.” Yet another said, “This is a blatant, racist erasure. Stripping fee-free days for MLK Jr. and Juneteenth to glorify Trump's birthday is cultural vandalism. It weaponizes public lands to whitewash history and feed his pathetic vanity.”
What are the free entry days in 2026?
The free entry days in 2026, as per the National Park Service are as follows:
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
