Trump gutted national parks staff — then raided their budget for his own renovations
The Trump administration has diverted at least $90 million in national park entry fees to fund Washington, D.C., beautification projects, including a $1.6 million Fourth of July fireworks display and $76 million to repair city fountains, according to internal National Park Service documents.
The redirection of funds — more than five times the usual expenditure on the annual fireworks celebration — comes as America's park system labors under a $24 billion backlog of deferred maintenance, reported the Washington Post, and critics say the spending priorities represent a dramatic and troubling departure from how park fee revenue has traditionally been allocated.
“That is not how it was designed to work,” said Ed Stierli, a senior director overseeing the Mid-Atlantic region for the National Parks Conservation Association. “It shouldn’t just be all at one park at the expense of the entire national park system.”
Internal documents show that as of late May, the Park Service had approved roughly $105 million in fee money for fiscal year 2026 to be spent on the National Capital Region, compared to just $27 million approved for all other parks combined nationwide. The spending is tied in part to preparations for the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Specific expenditures include more than $13 million on the Lafayette Square Fountain in front of the White House, $5.7 million on the Simón Bolívar Memorial fountain and $47 million on other National Mall fountains. An additional $716,000 from park fees is being used to relocate a statue of Caesar Rodney — a founding father who enslaved hundreds of people — to Washington's Freedom Plaza.
“We viewed America’s 250th as a tide that was going to raise all boats,” Stierli said. "We were hoping to see investments in cultural and historical sites around the country. … Now that could not be any further from our current reality.”
The spending squeeze is compounded by significant staff reductions. The administration has cut Park Service staffing by roughly a quarter — around 4,000 positions — contributing last year to longer visitor lines, closed campgrounds, reduced tours and shuttered restroom facilities.
The Interior Department defended the spending, with spokesperson Katie Martin saying contracts had been awarded properly and that the administration had been tackling deferred maintenance projects across the country. "While other administrations have let the city fall into decay, President Trump has made Washington, D.C., Safe and Beautiful again," Martin said.
Congressional funding authorized in 2020 to address the maintenance backlog expired in October 2025. A Senate reauthorization bill proposes $11 billion over eight years — still less than half of what the Park Service alone requires.