As I’ve often said, the mainstream media are nothing if not a predictable lot, and that has certainly been the case in the aftermath of an announcement made by the Department of the Interior on what days entry to national parks would be free for American citizens in 2026.
Just a couple of days before Thanksgiving, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum shared plans for what he described as more “modernized, more affordable National Park access,” which includes “new digital passes, new annual pass artwork, America-first pricing and expanded motorcycle access.”
As part of the Administration’s commitment to enhancing access for American residents, the Department is also implementing America-first entry fee policies. U.S. residents will continue to enjoy affordable pricing, while nonresidents will pay a higher rate to help support the care and maintenance of America’s parks.
The announcement also noted which days entry would be free for American citizens, with the theme centering around patriotic days of the year:
-President’s Day (February 16, 2026)-Memorial Day (May 25, 2026)-Flag Day/President Trump’s birthday (June 14, 2026)-Independence Day weekend (July 3–5, 2026)-110th Birthday of the National Park Service (August 25, 2026)-Constitution Day (Sept. 17, 2026)-Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday (Oct. 27, 2026)-Veteran’s Day (November 11, 2026)
Not surprisingly, the MSM zeroed in on the “Trump’s birthday” aspect of the announcement in their headlines and tweets while leaving out the fact that Trump’s birthday falls on Flag Day. They also were quick to point out that Juneteenth and MLK Day had been taken off the list of free entry days, with the implication clear that racism was the motivation behind it:
One had to scroll down quite a ways in the USA Today piece Baker linked to to find out that Trump’s birthday coincided with Flag Day. The framing in the first several paragraphs conveniently left it out:
In 2026, Americans will get free admission to national parks on President Donald Trump’s birthday but no longer on Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, according to the National Park Service website.
Previously, the National Park Service included these two federal holidays among its free-entry days for around 100 park sites.
Federally recognized in 2021 under the Biden Administration, Juneteenth has been celebrated for more than a century and a half. The day commemorates the final end of slavery in Confederate states just after the end of the Civil War.
The NPS also added more free-admission days for next year – calling them “patriotic fee-free days” – such as Trump’s birthday on June 14, July 4th weekend and the 110th Birthday of NPS.
Conservatives on social media made sure to call the MSM out over the omission of the inconvenient Flag Day fact in response to their hyperventilating:
Google is your friend… sometimes.
– Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –
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