In August 2025, a claim (archived) circulated online that the Trump administration removed a rainbow crosswalk in Orlando, Florida, that was part of a memorial for the 49 people killed in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting.
The rainbow crosswalk at South Orange Avenue and West Esther Street opened in 2017 and honored Pulse nightclub's history as a gathering place for Orlando's LGBTQ+ community.
One popular Facebook post on the topic that cited a headline from a report in the celebrity newsmagazine People read, "Trump Administration Removes Rainbow Crosswalk Honoring 49 Victims Murdered at Pulse Nightclub."
(Facebook user Alt National Park Service)
Social media users on Instagram (archived), Threads (archived), Bluesky (archived) and Reddit (archived) also claimed the Trump administration was responsible for painting over the crosswalk. Snopes readers wrote in asking if the claim was true.
A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) told NBC the department had "restored" the Pulse nightclub memorial crosswalk "to its proper form" following a review of state-maintained roads.
FDOT's action followed a department memo (archived) on June 30, 2025, that asked Florida districts to immediately remove "non-complaint surface pavement" that included "art that is associated with social, political, or ideological messages."
The next day on July 1, 2025, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched the SAFE ROADS initiative. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy posted (archived) about the initiative on X, writing, "Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks."
Given the above, it appeared the action by FDOT to paint over the Orange Avenue crosswalk was a product of the state's own standards enforcement but also aligned with a concurrent federal push to review road safety.
Snopes reached out to FDOT to ask if its review of state-maintained roads was related to Duffy's SAFE ROADS initiative. The Florida governor's office referred Snopes to an X post by Gov. Ron DeSantis when asked to comment that read (archived), "We will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes."
'Social, political or ideological' messages not allowed in crosswalks, FDOT said
According to a spokesperson from the Orlando Mayor's office, the city "did not receive prior notice from the state that the crosswalk would be painted."
However, Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan told the Orlando Sentinel that the city had received a more general notice that its artistic crosswalks were in violation of state and federal guidelines.
On June 30, 2025, FDOT sent a memo to district authorities reiterating compliance standards for "traffic control devices" which included pavement and surface markings laid out in the FDOT Design Manual.
FDOT's memo specifically highlighted chapter 127.2 (15) of the FDOT Design Manual that read, "The Department prohibits any applications of pavement or surface art on travel lanes, paved shoulders, bridges, intersections, crosswalks, or sidewalks. Pavement or surface art is defined as surface markings that are not in direct support of traffic control or public safety on the State Highway System."
FDOT's memo added (our emphasis):
Examples of non-complaint surface pavement would include any pavement markings that do not meet the color, shape, or dimensions provided in the MUTCD or FDOT Standard Plans, including elements such as Bicycle Symbols, Crosswalk markings, or other pavement surface art that is associated with social, political, or ideological messages or images and does not serve the purpose of traffic control.
FDOT's memo said districts must immediately remove, modify or replace any "non-compliant traffic control devices of pavement markings." It added, "failure to remove non-compliant traffic control devices or pavement markings shall be cause for withholding of state funds."
Several Florida cities faced FDOT crackdown
Florida Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith and Sheehan told Snopes on Aug. 22 that the city received another letter from FDOT the previous day — after FDOT repainted the crosswalk — that gave the city a deadline of Sept. 4 to remove all non-complaint "traffic control devices," which included crosswalks.
In the letter, FDOT identified 18 noncompliant locations, not including the Pulse memorial crosswalk at South Orange Avenue and West Esther Street. None of the named crosswalks featured rainbow colors specifically, though some did incorporate color into the crosswalk design.
The letter stated that if the City of Orlando did not remedy the noncompliant locations itself, FDOT would do so and pass the cost on to Orlando.
According to the Miami Herald, FDOT sent a similar letter to Miami Beach on Aug. 21, 2025, demanding the city remove its rainbow crosswalks by the same Sept. 4 deadline.
Tallahassee, Fort Lauderdale, Delray Beach and Key West had also received demands from FDOT to remove noncompliant (including rainbow colored) street markings or lose FDOT funding, according to reports. Snopes had not independently reviewed these letters.
Key West Mayor Danise Henriquez told the Miami Herald the city would attend a hearing on FDOT's demands with representation, despite FDOT's initial letter stating that the hearing would not grant an exception or waiver allowing the rainbow markings to stay. The City of Orlando's letter included a similar clause.
This appeared to contradict FDOT's June 30 memo that said the Department could grant permission "to allow non-compliant traffic control devices or pavement markings" if a public agency were "able to demonstrate good cause for doing so."
In sum …
While FDOT confirmed to NBC that it carried out the actual repainting of the Pulse memorial crosswalk, memos from the department and its federal counterpart appeared to suggest that the action was part of a federal government push for road safety.
The DOT launched the SAFE ROADS initiative on July 1, and Duffy specifically posted about rainbow crosswalks as a misuse of taxpayer money while promoting the initiative on X. The day before SAFE ROADS launched, FDOT had already issued a separate memo to its districts reminding them to immediately remove "non-complaint surface pavement" that included "art that is associated with social, political, or ideological messages."
At the time of this writing, several cities had reportedly received letters asking them to remove noncompliant traffic features by a Sept. 4 deadline. In a statement to Fox News, FDOT said it was "now correcting pavement markings not in compliance," appearing to suggest that the overnight action in Orlando may not be the last of its kind.