President Donald Trump did not recognize January 19, 2026, as Martin Luther King Jr. Day through any official statement, proclamation or event, breaking with past presidential tradition, including his own first term.
The federal holiday commemorating the slain civil rights leader who fought to end segregation and racism is the third Monday in January.
Trump spent the day at his Mar-a-Lago resort. He plans to attend the National College Football Championship in Miami that evening.
The White House did not immediately respond when asked on Jan. 19 whether Trump planned to recognize the day or King’s legacy.
Trump’s only social media post on the morning of Jan. 19 called on voters to provide identification, a measure opposed by civil rights groups because minorities are more likely to lack state-issued ID. After being contacted by USA TODAY, White House social media accounts posted information about ICE and Trump’s accomplishments in his first year in office.
Congress established Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and only Congress can prevent official observances. On November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the King Holiday Act, establishing the third Monday in January as a federal holiday in honor of the civil rights leader.
Trump is the first president to not issue an official proclamation recognizing Martin Luther King Jr. Day since Ronald Reagan designated it a holiday.
Most presidents, including Trump in his first term, also observe the holiday with acts of service, commemorative celebrations, speeches or laying a wreath at the King Memorial on the National Mall.
For example, in 2023, President Joe Biden spoke at the Martin Luther King Jr. Church. In 2008, then-President George W. Bush spoke at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C. In 2007, Bush spent a day volunteering at a local high school.
President Donald Trump has declared after being snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize that peace is not “purely” his priority as he defends tariffs over control of Greenland.
Trump returns to the White House on January 20, 2025, a historic intersection as Inauguration Day coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Then-President Joe Biden signed a proclamation before leaving office.
Trump has made eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs a top priority of his second administration.
Last year, the Pentagon suspended observances of Black History Month, and this year the Trump administration removed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth (and added Trump’s birthday) from the National Park Service’s list of free days.
Trump celebrated the holiday during his first term. Ahead of his 2017 inauguration, Trump called on Americans to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day and “celebrate all the good that he stood for” before meeting King Martin Luther King III at Trump Tower.
In 2018, he signed an official announcement but was criticized for not making a public appearance.
Then in 2019 and 2020, Trump signed proclamations and went to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., to lay a wreath during the holidays. He also signed the 2021 Proclamation before leaving office.
The latest proclamation Trump signed on January 16 recognized Religious Freedom Day. This is the third proclamation he has signed since the start of the new year.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump won’t recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day
