A federal judge has temporarily blocked the National Park Service from implementing changes ordered by President Trump. The changes involved removing or revising signs, films, and other historical materials at national parks across the United States.

The executive order aimed to eliminate or cover materials deemed to portray Americans or the United States negatively. However, Judge Angel Kelley of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that the Park Service must restore any dismantled or altered exhibits within three weeks.

This decision offers a temporary reprieve to the plaintiffs, a coalition of advocacy groups, who had challenged the executive order in court earlier this year.

Actions taken by the Park Service to comply with the directive included removing plaques on slavery at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. Additionally, a sign about climate change at Fort Sumter in South Carolina and another regarding Indigenous people at Acadia National Park in Maine were also taken down.

Previously, another federal judge ordered the Park Service to refrain from further modifications to the slavery exhibit at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia. This was part of a separate lawsuit brought by the city.

We will continue to monitor how the litigation develops and ensure that historical narratives at national parks are accurately preserved.