Trump says American businesses can’t afford all these holidays “billions of dollars.”
president Donald Trump Honor June In each of his first four years as president, it Federal Holidays. He once claimed it had “been very famous.”
But on Thursday’s June holiday this year, the normally chatty president kept quiet about a day important to Black Americans, marking the end of slavery in the country he once again leads.
There is no word about it about it on his lips, on paper, or through his social media sites.
Asked if Trump was somehow commemorating June, White House press office Caroline Lewitt told reporters:
In a follow-up question, when asked if Trump was aware of another way or another day, Leavitt said, “I just answered that question for you.”
On Wednesday, leaders of black communities across the country, senior Trump administration officials and other individuals met at the White House to discuss improved coordination between leaders and federal, state and local partners, according to White House officials. Minority Outreach directors Scott Turner and Housing Secretary Lymphatton were among those present, saying officials insisted on anonymity to discuss the private gathering.
The Republican president’s silence was a sharp contrast to his prior approval of the holiday. June celebrates the end of American slavery by commemorating the June 19th, 1865, when union soldiers brought news of freedom to enslaved black people in Galveston, Texas. Their freedom came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln freed Confederate slaves by signing the Emancipation Declaration during the Civil War.
Trump’s quietness on the issue also deviated from the White House’s guidance that Trump planned to sign the June declaration. Leavitt did not explain the changes. Trump did not hold a public event Thursday, but he shared a statement on social media sites about the Tiktok app and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
In the evening, Trump complained on the site about “too many non-operating holidays,” saying “it costs billions of dollars to close all of these businesses.” However, while most retailers are open in June, most federal workers get a break due to the government being closed.
He had more to say about June in his first term in his annual statement.
2017, Trump evoked the “soulful festivals and emotional joys” that swept the Galveston crowds when the Major shared the news that all enslaved people were free.
He talked about Galveston for each of the next three years. “Together, we respect the unbreakable spirit and the myriad contributions of African-American generations to the story of American greatness,” he added. His 2018 Statement.
2019: “Across our nation, the contributions of African Americans continue to enrich all aspects of American life.” 2020: “June reminds us of both the unimaginable injustice of slavery and the unparalleled joy that must have attended the liberation: a celebration of our memories of devastation for our history and the exceptional ability of our nation to win the darkness.”
In 2020, after suspending campaign rally due to the coronavirus pandemic, Trump chose Tulsa, Oklahoma. The event has been postponed In one day.
Black leaders said it would be uncomfortable for Trump to choose Tulsa for a campaign event on June 19th. Given that in 1921, the place where a white mob looted and burned the Greenwood district, an economically prosperous area known as Black Wall Street, up to 300 black Talsans were killed and thousands were temporarily detained in concentration camps supervised by the National Guard.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal just days before the rally, Trump tried to put an aggressive spin on the situation by claiming he became “famous” in June. He said he changed the dates of the rally out of respect for his two African-American friends and supporters.
“I did something good. I made it famous. I became very famous in June,” Trump said. “It’s actually a significant event and a critical time. But no one has heard of it. Few people have heard it.”
Generations of Black Americans celebrated in June long before it became a federal holiday in 2021 with President Joe Biden’s pen stroke.
In late 2020, Trump tried to plead black voters with a series of campaign promises, including establishing June as a federal holiday.
He lost the election, which allowed Democrat Biden to sign the law established in June as the latest federal holiday. Shortly after being sworn into his second term in January, Trump signed Presidential Order Ending Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Federal government-wide initiatives call them “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.”
Biden issued a declaration every June during his four years in office, observing several of his holidays at a massive concert in South Lawn. Biden’s final observance in 2024 featured Gladys Knight and Pattilabel performances. Vice President Kamala Harris danced on stage with gospel singer Kirk Franklin.
Biden spent this year’s holiday in Galveston, Texashe spoke at the historic African Methodist Anglican Church.