Visitors to Yellowstone and Yosemite may be unknowingly helping bankroll a much shinier Washington, DC. The Washington Post reports that the Trump administration is steering at least $90 million in national park entrance fees toward the capital, including a $1.6 million Fourth of July fireworks show—more than five times the usual cost—and tens of millions more for fountain and statue projects tied to the 250th anniversary of US independence. About $7 million in collected fees alone will be put toward the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the New York Times reported last month, citing internal documents.
Internal National Park Service documents reviewed by the Post show roughly $105 million in fee money approved for the DC area for fiscal 2026, versus about $27 million for everything else. Advocates say the shift drains a parks system grappling with a $24 billion maintenance backlog and staff cuts that have already meant longer lines and shuttered facilities. "Our parks and public lands have been underfunded for decades, and there are many genuinely urgent projects in need of funding across the country," Aaron Weiss, head of the Center for Western Priorities, a nonpartisan conservation group, tells the Times. "Instead, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is determined to divert millions of dollars to projects that President Trump can see out his window."
White House reps and a spokesperson for the Interior Department counter that the projects are restoring long-neglected sites, and that contracts are being handled properly, per the Post. Also tucked into the documents: a planned Marine One landing pad paid for with donations, and $300 million for "East Wing Modernization," which includes a new White House ballroom. The Trump administration is also directing taxpayer money to coat horse statues in DC in 23.75-karat gold leaf.
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