Dec. 9, 2025

Trump’s Birthday Replaces MLK Day? National Parks Spark Outrage With ‘America-First’ Holidays

Show Notes
Transcript

Patrick Gutfield digs into the National Park Service’s explosive new holiday calendar scrapping MLK Day and Juneteenth — while elevating Donald Trump’s birthday to fee-free status. Add in a $100 “patriotic premium” for foreign visitors and you’ve got bureaucratic chaos with a nationalist twist. Then: Trump “accidentally” tries to rename the Kennedy Center after himself (again), the Institute of Peace gets the full Trump makeover, and a new citizenship bill could accidentally boot Melania and Barron. It’s political whiplash at its finest.

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Calaroga Shark Media from Washington, DC, where sometimes it's hard

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not to call something blatantly racist. This is ballot blatantly

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that's an understatement. Let's hit this. I'm Patrick Gutfield and

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National Parks have decided to play historical musical chairs, and

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boy is this playlist wild. Martin Luther King Junior Day,

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Sorry you're not invited. June teenth canceled. But Donald Trump's

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birthday red carpet. Please picture this. You're a National Park

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ranger and instead of celebrating civil rights heroes, you're now

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commemorating birthdays like it's a presidential sweet sixteen. The National

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Park Service just dropped the most politically charged calendar since

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well last week. And get this, they're calling it America

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First pricing. Because nothing says freedom like charging international visitors

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and extra one hundred dollars to look at some rocks.

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That's right. Want to see the Grand Canyon, that'll be

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the standard fee, plus a patriotic premium. It's like a

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cover charge for freedom. Secretary of the Interior Doug Bergham

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is out here talking about taxpayers contributing their fair share,

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which is government speak for we're making tourism great again.

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Non US visitors are basically funding our national park system

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like it's a really expensive theme park. The new fee

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free days read like a conservative talk show hosts stream playlist.

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Trump's birthday, flag Day, Constitution Day. It's basically a greatest

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hits album of nationalist nostalgia. Teddy Roosevelt gets a birthday

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shout out too, because nothing says progressive conservation like a

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president who loved shooting things. This is peak bureaucratic comedy.

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We've turned national parks into a political statement. MLK Day Nope,

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June teenth, hard pass Trump's birthday, mark your calks. Trump

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attended an event last week at the Institute of Peace,

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which now has his name on it. Naturally, the State

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Department renamed it the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace

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and called him the greatest deal maker in our nation's history.

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Nothing says peace quite like adding your name to a

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building while simultaneously trying to dismantle the organization inside it.

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Trump was clearly thrilled. He thanked Secretary of State Marco

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Rubio for the honor, saying that blew up last night

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and calling it a great honor. The man just received

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a participation trophy. He gave himself, and he's genuinely moved.

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But here's where it gets good. While standing in his

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newly named building, Trump mentioned an upcoming event and said, quote,

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you have a big event on Friday at the Trump

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Kennedy Center. Oh, excuse me, at the Kennedy Center. Then

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he added, pardon me, such a terrible mistake. The audience laughed.

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Trump pretended it was a slip. But this is at

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least the third time he's accidentally ren the Kennedy Center

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after himself. He made the same joke back in August

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on truth Social about the Trump Kennedy Center. Whoops. At

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this point, it's not a Freudian slip, it's a Freudian billboard.

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And Trump isn't just joking. Back in February, he fired

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members of the Kennedy Center board and named himself chairman.

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So he's already in charge of the place. The only

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thing left is the rebrand, which apparently he's workshopping in

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real time at public events. Meanwhile, the Institute of Peace,

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sorry the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, is currently

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being gutted by Trump's own administration. He signed an executive

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order in February aimed at dismantling the congressionally funded organization

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that's existed since nineteen eighty four. So they put his

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name on the building and he's thanking them while actively

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trying to shut it down. That's not irony, that's a

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real estate strategy, and Trump's not done. According to ESPN,

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he also wants the Washington Commanders to name their new

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stadium after him. The White House called it a beautiful name.

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Maybe they could rebrand themselves as the Orange Skins. Not

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that this administration would ever want to do something racist.

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Breaking news from the Department of Patriotic Paperwork. Republican Senator

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Bernie Moreno is on a mission to make citizenship an

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all or nothing game show and plot twist he might

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accidentally take down the Trump family in the process. Senator Moreno,

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born in Colombia but now more American than apple Pie,

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wants to introduce the Exclusive Citizenship Act because nothing says

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freedom like forcing people to choose their national allegiance like

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it's a reality TV elimination round. Here's the delicious irony.

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Milania and Baron Trump total dual citizens. That's right, the

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first family of America first might actually be the first

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family to get booted under this new law, Milania has

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been keeping that Slovenian passport as a backup plan what

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she calls Mama Bear options. It's like having an international

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escape patch, but make it fashion. So picture this. You're

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Baron Trump. One day, you're inheriting an empire, the next

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year being told to choose between American and Slovenian citizenship. Sorry, son,

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pick a country. No international networking for you. The real

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questions if Malania gets deported, will Trump even notice or

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even care. Portions of today's program were made with the

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help of AI