Trump abuses our national parks, and he's doing it again at Mount Rushmore | Jonathan B Jarvis and Gary Machlis

Past presidents used the parks to inspire and unite. Trump sees them as backdrops for self-serving, divisive campaign rallies

In the United States, parks have always been used as spaces for public protest, places for commemorating acts of resistance and the struggle for a more perfect union, and stages for presidents to call for national unity or celebrate civic purpose.

As his Mount Rushmore event scheduled for Friday makes clear, Donald Trump misunderstands and misuses all these precedents.