Trump administration is erasing history and science at national parks, lawsuit argues; AP, February 17, 2026

MATTHEW DALY, AP; Trump administration is erasing history and science at national parks, lawsuit argues

"Conservation and historical organizations sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over National Park Service policies that the groups say erase history and science from America’s national parks. 

A lawsuit filed in Boston says orders by President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum have forced park service staff to remove or censor exhibits that share factually accurate and relevant U.S. history and scientific knowledge, including about slavery and climate change. 

Separately, LGBTQ+ rights advocates and historic preservationists sued the park service Tuesday for removing a rainbow Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument, the New York site that commemorates a foundational moment in the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. 

The changes at exhibits came in response to a Trump executive order “restoring truth and sanity to American history” at the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks. It directed the Interior Department to ensure those sites do not display elements that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.” Burgum later directed removal of “improper partisan ideology” from museums, monuments, landmarks and other public exhibits under federal control...

The suit was filed by a coalition that includes the National Parks Conservation Association, American Association for State and Local History, Association of National Park Rangers and Union of Concerned Scientists. It comes as a federal judge on Monday ordered that an exhibit about nine people enslaved by George Washington must be restored at his former home in Philadelphia."

Judge invokes George Orwell’s ‘1984’ in ordering restoration of Philadelphia slavery exhibit; The Hill, February 16, 2026

 ZACH SCHONFELD, The Hill; Judge invokes George Orwell’s ‘1984’ in ordering restoration of Philadelphia slavery exhibit 

"A federal judge ordered the National Park Service to restore exhibits about slaves who lived at the nation’s one-time executive mansion in Philadelphia, agreeing with the city that the Trump administration likely unlawfully removed the displays. 

U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe invoked the dystopian novel “1984” as she blocked the Trump administration from changing or damaging the site, which is now an outdoor exhibition.

“As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto ‘Ignorance is Strength,’ this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims—to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts. It does not,” Rufe wrote. 

Rufe is an appointee of former President George W. Bush."