UPDATE: Late in the day, the White House – clearly shamed by the amount of press covering the lack of a presidential proclamation for MLK Jr. Day – scrambled and posted a last minute proclamation on WhiteHouse.gov.
Still no mention of the observance on either the White House or Trump’s social media. There are, however, three posts on the White House X account regarding the college national football championship game.
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Breaking decades of tradition begun by President Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump has become the first U.S. president to not issue a proclamation recognizing Martin Luther King Jr. Day since it was established as a federal holiday 40 years ago.
Martin Luther King, Jr. at the March on Washington, August 1963 (via Wikimedia Commons)Via Meidas Touch News:
These proclamations are usually signed days in advance of a holiday and even if Trump signed one late, his administration isn’t making the proclamation public in a timely manner. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, Trump is skipping the presidential emphasis on the MLK holiday.
The absence marks a sharp departure not only from presidential precedent dating back to Ronald Reagan, but from Trump’s own first term, during which he issued MLK Day proclamations every year from 2018 through 2021.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 and first observed as a federal holiday in 1986.
As I type this there is nothing on the official White House website, official social media, or elsewhere observing MLK Jr. Day.
You have to wonder if it has something to do with the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. was actually honored with a Nobel Peace Prize…
Racist Trump Becomes First President to Skip MLK Day Proclamation
Trump breaks decades-long tradition started by Ronald Reaganhttps://t.co/AyjhCSCqG5
— Morgan J. Freeman (@mjfree) January 19, 2026
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