Federal Judge Angel Kelley on Friday issued an injunction stopping the National Park Service from removing or revising signs, films and exhibits. The order blocks enforcement of a 2024 executive order from President Trump that demanded any material portraying the United States in a “negative light” be covered or taken down. Plaintiffs – a coalition of heritage‑preservation groups – sued in February.

Park officials had already removed a slavery plaque at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, a climate‑change sign at Fort Sumter, and an Indigenous‑people marker at Acadia National Park. A separate federal judge previously barred changes to the slavery exhibit at the President’s House Site. Kelley’s 63‑page opinion warned that erasing such content threatens the parks’ educational mission and sets a censorship precedent.

The Interior Department said it will appeal, labeling the ruling “liberal activist” while noting upcoming celebrations of the administration’s 250th‑anniversary events. Preservation advocates hailed the decision as a safeguard that national parks must convey the full American story, not a sanitized narrative. The injunction now halts any further removal until the courts resolve the underlying lawsuit.