United States of America

NPS Records Show $323M for White House Projects, Park Shortfalls

Is Trump betraying national parks or delivering a real conservation record?

Published 8 hours ago

NPS Records Show $323M for White House Projects, Park Shortfalls

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Above: Sign at the entrance to Yosemite National Park in California on Oct. 7, 2025. Image credit: Patrick Pleul/picture alliance/Getty Images

The Spin

Anti-Trump narrative

Redirecting $323 million to White House vanity projects while starving Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon of funding is an inexcusable betrayal of the public trust. More than 900 park projects went unfunded, including a safety guardrail on a Colorado cliff, while taxpayer money paid for Italian granite outside the Oval Office. The National Park Service has been turned into a personal piggybank and remodeling fund for Trump's aesthetic preferences.

Scott MacFarlane on X

Mike Levin on X

Pro-Trump narrative

Trump isn't "using the parks as a piggybank," he's actually investing in America's public lands. His 2020 Great American Outdoors Act has delivered $8.7 billion for repairs, infrastructure and conservation nationwide, with projects in all 50 states. His administration is also pursuing new revenue from foreign visitors to attack the maintenance backlog that ballooned under Biden from $14.9 billion to over $22.9 billion. That's a real conservation record and not neglect.

Trump U.S. Department of the Interior

Donald Trump on The White House

Editor's Note

This story currently has limited reporting from right-leaning sources. We will continue to monitor all major outlets and update our coverage as additional perspectives become available.