President Donald Trump’s administration must restore the remaining missing displays to the President’s House Site in time for July 4, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled Friday evening.
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U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley’s decision, which came three weeks ahead of the United States’ roaring celebrations for its 250th birthday, temporarily blocks the National Park Service from removing or altering content at parks across the country and gives the agency 21 days to restore any exhibits that had been removed or changed.
“Because Defendants deemed it important to strip the parks of these undeniable truths in anticipation of the 250th Anniversary of our great Nation, it is equally important that our shared history be honestly told and fully restored by the 250th Anniversary to properly honor the remarkable achievements of the United States,” wrote Kelley, a nominee of former President Joe Biden.
The ruling comes as the City of Philadelphia and the federal government, including the Department of Interior and the National Park Service, are engaged in their own legal battle over the fate of the President’s House, a memorial dedicated to the nine people George Washington enslaved in Philadelphia during the founding of the U.S.
Both parties are waiting for a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on whether a February injunction ordering the administration to restore the site of America’s first executive mansion should take effect. Depending on how the Third Circuit rules — and when — the new ruling could add an extra level of complexity to the litigation.
In a statement to The Inquirer Saturday, a spokesperson for the Interior Department called Kelley a “liberal activist judge” and said the government will be considering its appeal options “while we celebrate UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House this weekend in honor of our nation’s 250th,” referring to the controversial UFC fight that Trump is hosting at the White House on his birthday Sunday.
The city did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Friday’s decision is the latest development in what has become both a bipartisan local and national effort to protect history at the President’s House and parks across the country. Directives from Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum prompted the President’s House to be abruptly dismantled earlier this year.
The federal government later proposed its own version of history for the Sixth and Market site, which the Trump administration said it’s ready to install should it get the legal green light.
In a court hearing earlier this month, the administration said it would take roughly three weeks to restore the exhibits or install the new panels.
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The came in a case that challenged the basis for the removals of exhibits more broadly. A coalition led by the National Parks Conservation Association argued in its lawsuit that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s 2025 order implementing Trump’s directive to ensure that no national parks’ exhibits “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living” was unlawful. The conservation groups asked Kelley to issue a stay on the order and reverse all removals that already took place.
Plaques at other national parks were also impacted by the orders, including signage regarding climate change at Fort Sumter and the mistreatment of Native Americans at the Grand Canyon.
“Under the guise of promoting American dignity, this Administration seeks to share a limited history by ordering the removal of all signs, displays, and interpretive exhibits at National Parks that do not align with its preferred narrative, thereby telling half-truths,” Kelley wrote.
Alan Spears, senior director for cultural resources for the National Parks Conservation Association, applauded the ruling in a statement. He said “it will help protect national parks from the administration’s unprecedented campaign to erase history and science at these one-of-a-kind places.”
The deadline to restore any missing materials ahead of July 4 is notable, especially in Philadelphia, where a deluge of tourists will be continuing to visit for Semiquincentennial festivities. But, as it stands, visitors to Independence National Historical Park are seeing a half-finished version of history at the President’s House.
In February, Philadelphia District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe ordered the Park Service to restore the dismantled exhibits at the site, but a few remain uninstalled after the Justice Department appealed the injunction and obtained an administrative stay on further restorations.
Outside of the legal proceedings, President’s House stakeholders have continued to defend the site by holding rallies and engaging Philadelphians via social media. Last month, the site was designated endangered by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, awarding the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia a $25,000 grant to produce a mobile digital exhibit near the embattled site.
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