On the day before Independence Day, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to make international visitors pay more to visit America's national parks.
In a confusing new executive order issued July 3, Trump told the Secretary of the Interior to "increase fees only for foreign visitors."
According to the executive order, "charging higher entrance fees to foreign tourists is a common policy at national parks throughout the world."
While it's true that entry prices sometimes differ for locals vs. international visitors, in most cases the practice is designed to lower costs for locals.
Usually, the prices for citizens are decreased so people nearer to poverty can still enjoy their national treasures. At India's Taj Mahal in Agra, for example, Indian citizens pay 50 rupees (US 58¢) while international tourists pay 1,100 rupees ($12.84). New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art also offers lower admission for city residents.
That's not what Trump's order demands. Prices are being explicitly raised on foreigners—but Americans are not currently being offered any new discounts.
And even if discounts for citizens were being introduced—they're not—the order fails to address several important matters.
New funds won't dent national park shortfalls
The executive order did not explain how the additional funds collected by higher entry fees, which will mostly be in cash, will be allocated. Will the cash go to help fill the drastic budget cuts that are undermining national park units across the nation, or will that money slip into nonpublic slush funds to be spent elsewhere?
Right now, there's no answer. The executive order boasts without explanation that the admission fee increases would "fuel investment in our national parks, reduce the maintenance backlog, construct critical infrastructure improvements, and support conservation projects that improve our majestic national parks."
But in May, Trump revealed plans to gut funding to the National Park Service by a jaw-dropping $1.2 billion. According to an analysis by SFGate, the Trump cuts will obliterate national recreation and preservation programs; natural resource programs would be left with about 5% of their current funding; cultural programs would lose 60%; and the National Heritage Areas Program, which supports 62 national heritage areas including the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area in Illinois and the Niagara Falls National Heritage Area in New York, would lose everything.
At a congressional oversight hearing in June, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum claimed that an increase in fees on international visitors of the type in the executive order would bring in just $90 million. In the vast federal budget, that's barely a rounding error.
You don't need a Harvard degree to figure out that $90 million in potential added income from the new executive order is merely a whisper of a fraction of a single percent of the billions Trump has already cut.
"Welcome to the Grand Canyon. Papers, please."
That's not all the executive order didn't explain.
It didn't say how much prices will go up. Based on Burgum's claim of a $90 million increase in fee collection from nonresident tourists, SFGate calculated that 2024 international visitor numbers (14.6 million) might suggest a $6 fee increase on every foreign tourist entry to the National Park System.
The order didn't explain how checking nationalities will affect flow at national park entry points. America's most popular national parks collect entry fees at roadside kiosks. Will the line of cars waiting to enter grow longer when drivers have to stop to fish out identification from their luggage?
In addition, no mention is made of how far the new caste system for international visitors will extend inside park boundaries. Will foreigners have to pay more for park services like tours once inside? The executive order also directed Burgum to bump international visitors down the food chain when it comes to making reservations for park entry, services, and accommodation to "ensure that U.S. residents receive priority access in any permitting or reservation systems."
There's one other massive question that does not appear to have been studied or addressed: How will this affect tourism and the reputation of the United States as an attractive destination?
Is a mere $90 million worth the public relations drubbing that the U.S. will undergo in the international press? To Congress, Burgum claimed without evidence that the price increase would not discourage visitors.
U.S. is the only country to see visitor spending drop in 2025
Burgum's calculation of $90 million in increased revenue appears to be magical thinking, based on obsolete visitor numbers from the past. The visitorship numbers Burgum used to make that calculation are already a fantasy.
Since Trump took office, international visitors have been canceling plans to visit the United States in breathtaking numbers. The World Travel & Tourism Council reports that in 2025, the United States has been the only country out of 184 to see visitor spending drop.
The abandonment of American vacations has been so extreme that it will result in nearly $30 billion in lost revenue for the United States, the Council estimates. Most of that loss will hit the incomes of Americans who make their livings in tourism.