MLK Day Out, Trump’s Birthday In? All His Holiday Changes.

Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images Since returning to office, Donald Trump has been trying to flex his executive authority by changing Americans’ calendars. The president doesn’t actually have the power to unilaterally create or abolish federal holidays. But you wouldn’t know that from reading Trump’s Truth Social posts declaring new holidays, or claiming he’s bringing Columbus Day “back from the ashes” (though it never went anywhere). The second Trump administration has also made some subtler changes that deemphasize holidays like Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth while encouraging people to honor Trump’s birthday.

In these increasingly MAGA-fied times, it can be hard to know if Juneteenth is still a federal holiday (yes), whether non-federal workers are getting more days off work (probably not), or how we’re supposed to celebrate the December holidays (say “Merry Christmas!” exclusively and keep your yuletide decorations spooky). Here’s a guide, which we’ll keep updated, to all of Trump’s holiday changes.

No, he has not created any recurring federal holidays. Since 2021, there have been 12 permanent federal holidays: New Year’s Day, MLK Day, Inauguration Day (every four years), Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

Federal holidays are designated through congressional legislation. The president can sign or veto that legislation, but he can’t just declare a new holiday via Truth Social. States can also set their own holidays. Congress.gov explains:

Although frequently called public or national holidays, these celebrations are only legally applicable to federal employees and the District of Columbia, as the states individually decide their own legal holidays. … Neither Congress nor the President has asserted the authority to declare a “national holiday” that would be binding on the 50 states, as each state individually determines its legal holidays.

Presidents issue proclamations recognizing all kinds of public observances, but they are not “federal holidays.” Federal offices are not required to close and there’s no expectation that businesses will give employees the day off. Most people aren’t even aware of these days of “national observance.” For example, in just the past few weeks, Trump has issued proclamations for Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day, National POW/MIA Recognition Day, and National Purple Heart Day.

No, he just gave federal workers those days off in 2025. Trump’s executive order did not use the term “federal holiday” and it only applied to two specific dates, December 24, 2025 and December 26, 2025.

It is unusual for the president to give workers both days off. But President Biden made Christmas Eve a holiday for federal employees in 2024, and as The Hill notes this has been a common practice in recent years:

During his first term, [Trump] designated Christmas Eve as a federal holiday in 2019 and 2020. Those years, Dec. 24 fell on a Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. Former President Obama did the same for Dec. 26 in 2014, as the day after Christmas fell on a Friday.

Employers outside the federal government were not required or expected to follow Trump’s lead and give their employees the day off.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that, since Trump announced last year (weirdly, in April) that he was “hereby reinstating Columbus Day” and bringing it “back from the ashes”:

However, Trump couldn’t actually bring Columbus Day back because it never went anywhere. An increasing number of states and cities celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, either alongside or in lieu of the day glorifying the homicidal explorer who never landed on the North American mainland. But Columbus Day has been a federal holiday since 1971 and no president has tried to change that. While Joe Biden became the first president to issue a proclamation for Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2021, he also released a Columbus Day proclamation every year of his presidency.

No. Trump hasn’t made any effort to officially abolish Martin Luther King Jr. Day. His second inauguration happened to fall on MLK Day in 2025. While Trump did not include any special events to honor King in his swearing-in festivities, he did mention the civil-rights leader in his second Inaugural Address. “In his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true,” Trump said.

That same day, Trump issued an executive order dismantling federal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, but White House officials tried to spin that as what MLK would have wanted.

Surprisingly, so far it has survived Trump’s war on DEI. June 19 has only been a holiday since 2021, when Joe Biden signed legislation designating it as a day to commemorate the abolition of slavery in the U.S. Trump had actually promised to make Juneteenth a federal holiday too in a 2020 campaign document outlining his plan to help Black Americans.

But Trump certainly hasn’t been enthusiastic about celebrating Juneteenth in his second term. He did not issue a proclamation, Truth Social post, or any kind of public acknowledgement of Juneteenth in 2025 or 2026.

The Trump administration removed both dates from the 2026 calendar of free-entrance days at national parks. In 2025, these were the free-entrance days:

April 19: First Day of National Park Week

June 19: Juneteenth National Independence Day

August 4: Great American Outdoors Act Signing Day

But the Department of the Interior announced these “patriotic fee-free days for 2026”:

February 16: Presidents’ Day (Washington’s Birthday)

June 14: Flag Day/President Trump’s birthday

August 25: 110th Birthday of the National Park Service

October 27: Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday

Under the new “America-first pricing” policy, these days are only for U.S. citizens and residents. All nonresidents will pay the regular entrance fees. The free admission days for 2027 have yet to be announced.

By hating your enemies and railing against those who persecute you.

At the 2025 White House Easter Egg Roll, Trump said, “We’re honoring Jesus Christ … We’re bringing religion back in America.”

But the president spent much of the day on Truth Social posting vitriolic tirades about Joe Biden and “the WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Judges and Law Enforcement Officials” holding up his mass-deportation efforts. And during the Easter Egg Roll, he entertained kids by showing off a Trump trading card featuring his bloody post-assassination-attempt photo and taking more jabs at Biden:

This theme continued in 2026, when he made some scary and incoherent remarks about bombing Iran in front of the Easter Bunny.

Following First Lady Melania Trump’s example, we should all wear black from head to toe, use the word “Christmas” rather than “holiday,” and display bloody and glowering portraits of the president next to the tree.

Trump hosted a Hanukkah reception at the White House in 2025, which included a menorah lighting. But the Washington Post noted that the White House’s holiday branding and decor was solely focused on Christmas:

This year’s theme? “Home Is Where the Heart Is.” And it’s officially called Christmas at the White House, rather than referring to the broader holiday season. (Indeed, there’s not a menorah or a nod to other religious traditions in sight. A White House staffer confirmed there is no menorah.)

J.D. Vance also held a Hanukkah reception at the vice-president’s residence. The invitation was headlined “The Golden Noel,” and the line right below that says, “CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF CHRISTMAS AT THE VICE PRESIDENT’S RESIDENCE.”

This may seem like a mistake, but a Vance spokesperson told The Independent it wasn’t.

“The same branding for invitations was used for all holiday parties at the vice-president’s residence,” the spokesperson said. “The Vance family is celebrating 50 historic years of Christmas at the vice-president’s residence. They look forward to welcoming all of their guests.”

You can visit a national park for free, or better yet throw Trump a military parade or UFC fight. Trump’s birthday, June 14, is also Flag Day. On 2025, it just happened to coincide with the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary, so his dream of watching tanks roll through D.C. finally came true (though he was reportedly “disappointed” by the display). A year later, he co-opted both Flag day and America’s 250th anniversary to celebrate his 80th birthday with an elaborate UFC cage match on the White House lawn.

He tried to, but it didn’t work. Trump has repeatedly expressed his jealousy over how other nations celebrate their war victories, so on May 1, 2025 he announced, “I am hereby renaming May 8th as Victory Day for World War II and November 11th as Victory Day for World War I”:

Of course, November 11 is already Veterans Day, and veterans groups objected to the proposed name change.

A few days later, Trump issued a second Truth Social post “declaring a National Holiday” celebrating U.S. victories in WWI and WWII. But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified, “We are not renaming Veterans Day. It will just be an additional proclamation that goes out on that day.”

Broadly, no. In his second Truth Social post attempting to rename Veterans Day in 2025, Trump said no one would get any additional days off, as Americans just love to work:

We will not be closing the Country for these two very important Holidays, November 11 and May 8, World War I and World War II, because we already have too many Holidays in America — There are not enough days left in the year. We were Workers then, and we are Workers now!

There are actually far fewer public holidays in the United States compared to other countries. But weeks later, Trump repeated this dubious claim on Truth Social. He complained on June 19, 205 that we have “Too many non-working holidays in America”:

Does “It must change” mean Trump is going to try to cut back on nonworking holidays in the name of Making America Great Again? All we can say is enjoy your meager 12 federal holidays while they last.

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