President Trump criticized the number of U.S. federal holidays Thursday evening, saying that it costs the country “billions of dollars” to keep businesses shuttered on these days.
“Too many non-working holidays in America. It is costing our Country $billions of dollars to keep all of these businesses closed,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social.
“The workers don’t want it either! Soon we’ll end up having a holiday for every once working day of the year. It must change if we are going to make America great again!” he added, lapsing into all capital letters.
Mr. Trump made the statement on Juneteenth, a federal holiday marking the day in 1865 when enslaved Blacks in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued — the last to learn of it since the defeat of the Confederacy earlier that year.
There are 11 federal holidays in the U.S. each year. These holidays are designated by Congress and are observed by federal government offices and employees.
The term “Juneteenth” is a combination of “June” and “nineteenth,” created to celebrate the end of slavery.
Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021 after President Biden signed legislation making it one. It was previously a state holiday in Texas by 1980, and a number of other states subsequently followed suit.
