Last year, the Trump administration asked visitors to hundreds of national parks to report any “divisive” signs or monuments that tarnished the country’s image.
Called “snitch signs” by critics, notices with QR codes appeared in places that included Indiana Dunes National Park, encouraging visitors to report signage that portrayed Americans negatively, or failed to “emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance” of the park’s landscape.
Roughly 35,000 comments poured in from June 4, 2025, to Jan. 14, 2026. The campaign, however, appears to have backfired.
The submissions were released by the agency in May. While a significant number appeared to be non-political, copy-pasted duplicates, jokes, memes or submissions written by the same person, USA TODAY found an overwhelming majority of unique entries were critical of the White House’s effort to rid the national parks of “woke ideology.”
In Indiana, feedback from visitors was nearly all positive, expressing support toward National Park Service rangers and criticizing the Trump Administration.
One person at Indiana Dunes National Park appeared to take issue with a sign at the Bailey Homestead painting what they called “an outdated and overly idyllic picture” of the fur trade.
“There shouldn’t be signs about history that whitewash and erase the centuries of discrimination against the people who have cared for this land for generations,” they wrote, advocating collaboration with local tribal leaders to determine how the history of the land and its people should be represented.
Others submitted comments that took direct shots at the current administration.
“Censoring the ‘negative’ parts of our history is cowardly and un-American,” wrote one visitor to Indiana Dunes National Park who identified themselves as a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
“Asking visitors to tattle on history because it makes someone uncomfortable is beyond ridiculous, it’s dangerous,” wrote another visitor last June. “What’s next? Rewriting trail signs so we don’t hurt Andrew Jackson’s feelings?”
White House defends president’s order to ‘restore sanity’ to History
The controversial signs contested at U.S. national parks resulted from an executive order President Donald Trump signed in March 2025, titled “restoring truth and sanity to American History.”
In the order, Trump directed federal officials to remove any language from the country’s national parks, monuments and museums the portrayed the country as “inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.”
The White House defended the president’s order as “honoring our country’s extraordinary heritage and restoring a sense of national pride” in a statement provided to The Courier Journal, which examined similar feedback from visitors at Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park.
“The President has put an end to the radical left’s divisive and inaccurate characterization of our nation’s history, which infiltrated our national parks and museums, and is restoring truth and sanity,” said White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers.
Story continues after photo gallery
In a statement, the Department of the Interior, which oversees the park service, said it was implementing the president’s order “to review interpretive materials to ensure accuracy, honesty, and alignment with shared national values.”
National Park Service staff “were asked to identify materials that might warrant clarification,” the department said. “Elevating an item for consideration does not mean it violates the Order, and it does not mean it will be changed. In the vast majority of cases across the system, flagged materials remain unchanged.”
A court filing from June 17 reveals 57 exhibits, signs or other materials were removed by the Trump administration from monuments, parks or other sites across the country —none of which included Indiana, IndyStar confirmed with the Department of the Interior.
If the administration was hoping for Americans to be more supportive of its efforts, it made a poor bet. Some visitors to national parks in the Hoosier State sounded livid.
National park visitors in Indiana had this to say about Trump’s ‘snitch signs’
IndyStar reviewed more than 200 comments submitted to the administration from June 11, 2025 through Dec. 11, 2025 across three Indiana-based national parks — Indiana Dunes National Park in Porter, George Rogers Clark National Historical Park in Vincennes, and Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln City.
The following comments provide a sample of what was said, some edited minimally for clarity and length.
On supporting the National Park Service with praise, more funding, more signage
Critiques directed against the Trump Administration against censorship in Indiana
What park visitors in Indiana said about the subject of history
Start your morning with the top Indy news delivered straight to your inbox with IndyStar’s Daily Briefing. Sign up for free at indystar.com/newsletters.
John Tufts covers trending and breaking news for IndyStar and Midwest Connect. Send him a news tip at John.Tufts@IndyStar.com. Find him on BlueSky at JohnWritesStuff.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Visitors slam Trump’s ‘snitch signs’ at Indiana national parks
Reporting by John Tufts, Connor Giffin and Drew Pittock, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By John Tufts, Connor Giffin and Drew Pittock, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
