‘HEINOUS’: White House Condemns Judge’s Order Mandating ‘Woke’ Ideology at National Parks

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A district judge mandated the restoration of “woke” messaging on climate alarmism and diversity, equity, and inclusion at national parks before July 4, and the White House plans to appeal.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order in March 2025, directing his administration, by July 4, to remove signs and placards condemning America’s “unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness” as “inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.”

The Department of the Interior had removed many signs, but a coalition, including left-leaning nonprofits, complained, filing a lawsuit. On June 12, a federal judge ordered the Department of the Interior to “restore and reinstall all interpretive materials” at National Park Service sites within 21 calendar days—by July 3.

“Instead of catering to the concerted efforts to rewrite American history and adopt left-wing ideology aimed at diminishing American achievement, President Trump is honoring our country’s extraordinary heritage and restoring a sense of national pride,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told the Daily Signal in a statement Monday.

“The president has put an end to the radical Left and the media’s divisive and inaccurate characterization of our nation’s history, which infiltrated our national parks and museums, and is restoring truth and sanity,” Rogers added. “The administration plans to appeal this heinous order and will not waver in defending America.”

Woke Ideology at National Parks

Trump’s order condemned what he described as a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”

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This month, The Heritage Foundation released a guide to historic sites that highlights how LGBTQ+ activism and the divisive idea that America is institutionally racist have infiltrated national parks.

District Judge Angel Kelley of the District of Massachusetts, an appointee of President Joe Biden, listed in her June 12 ruling many of the items the Trump administration removed.

The judge noted signs at national parks, including a sign at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, which claimed that “the historic island fortress that sparked the beginning of the Civil War may be underwater by the end of the century due to climate change.”

Kelley noted that the department removed signs at Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., describing Francis G. Newlands, a congressman and senator from 1893 to 1917, “including details about his white supremacist views.” She noted a sign at the president’s house site in Philadelphia emphasizing the slaves in George Washington’s household. She also cited a sign that the department removed because it featured a visitor holding an LGBTQ+ pride flag.

“Plaintiffs have demonstrated a likelihood that defendants’ efforts, ostensibly taken in the name of restoring dignity, instead seek to rewrite the nation’s history with a white-out pen,” the judge ruled. “History cannot be faithfully told while excluding the experiences of communities whose contributions, struggles, and achievements form an important part of our nation’s story.”

The judge emphasized her decision to order the materials reinstated before July 4.

“Because Defendants deemed it important to strip the parks of these undeniable truths in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of our great nation, it is equally important that our shared history be honestly told and fully restored by the 250th anniversary to properly honor the remarkable achievements of the United States,” she wrote.

Plaintiffs Celebrate

Democracy Forward, which represents the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, declined to comment on the case but pointed the Daily Signal to statements from the plaintiffs celebrating the judge’s decision.

Alan Spears, senior director for cultural resources at the National Parks Conservation Association, praised the order as protecting “national parks from the administration’s unprecedented campaign to erase history and science at these one-of-a-kind places.”

Gretchen Goldman, president and CEO of the left-leaning Union of Concerned Scientists, declared the ruling a “win for science.”

“National parks are America’s largest classroom, and removing science and history from these places isn’t just wrong, it’s a direct attack on the public’s access to factual information,” she claimed.

While Kelley has rejected the Interior Department’s motion for a stay of the order pending appeal, a higher court may overrule her.

Brenda Hafera, a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, has opposed both whitewashing and fixating on the shortcomings of America’s history.

“Any fair depiction of the American story will be inspiring and triumphant because, despite the setbacks, failures, and contradictions, America has furthered the cause of self-government,” she wrote.