National Parks Fee-Free Days 2026: MLK Day and Juneteenth Removed, Trump's Birthday Added

Donald John Trump, born June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York, is an American businessman, media personality, and politician. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 1968 with a degree in economics. In 1971, he took over his family’s real estate business, renaming it the Trump Organization, through which he expanded into building and managing skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. Trump gained widespread fame as the host of the reality TV show *The Apprentice* from 2004 to 2015, which helped establish his public persona as a successful entrepreneur. Trump entered politics as a Republican and was elected the 45th president of the United States, serving from 2017 to 2021. His presidency was marked by significant policy actions including tax cuts, deregulation, the appointment of three Supreme Court justices, renegotiation of trade agreements (notably replacing NAFTA with the USMCA), and a focus on immigration control including border wall expansion. He withdrew the U.S. from international agreements such as the Paris Climate Accord and the Iran nuclear deal, and engaged in a trade war with China. His administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was criticized for downplaying the virus’s severity. Trump was impeached twice by the House of Representatives—first in 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction, and again in 2021 for incitement of insurrection—but was acquitted by the Senate both times. After losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden, Trump challenged the results, culminating in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. He remains a central figure in American politics, having won the 2024 presidential election and returned as the 47th president in 2025, continuing to promote policies aimed at economic growth, border security, and military strength[1][2][3][4].

Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr., January 15, 1929, Atlanta, Georgia; died April 4, 1968, Memphis, Tennessee) was an American Baptist minister and civil rights leader who spearheaded the U.S. civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination.[1][2][3] Born to Baptist minister Michael Luther King Sr. and schoolteacher Alberta King, he earned a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Boston University in 1955 after studies at Morehouse College and Crozer Theological Seminary.[1][2] King rose to prominence leading the 1955-1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott, sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest, which mobilized the Black community against segregated public transit and culminated in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling declaring bus segregation unconstitutional.[1][2][5] In 1957, he became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an organization promoting nonviolent resistance inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and Christian principles to combat Jim Crow laws, voter suppression, and racial discrimination.[2][4][6] His key achievements include organizing the 1963 Birmingham campaign, which exposed police brutality and produced his seminal "Letter from Birmingham Jail"; the March on Washington, where he delivered the iconic "I Have a Dream" speech to 250,000 people, pressuring passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act; and the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery marches, leading to the Voting Rights Act that authorized federal oversight of voter registration and banned literacy tests.[1][3][4][5][7] King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 at age 35, the youngest recipient at the time, for advancing racial equality through nonviolence.[2][3][4] He faced arrests (nearly 30 times), FBI surveillance under COINTELPRO, and bombings, yet expanded his advocacy to poverty and opposition to the Vietnam War.[2][5][6] King was assassinated in Memphis while supporting a sanitation workers' strike.[2][5] His legacy endures in ongoing fights against racial injustice, with Martin Luther King Jr. Day a federal holiday since 1986 symbolizing nonviolent activism's relevance today.[2][3]