Trump Targets Smithsonian with Executive Order ‘Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History’
On Thursday, President donald Trump announced his intention to reform the smithsonian Institution, claiming it has succumbed to leftist ideology and is distorting American history. an executive order highlights concerns over recent exhibitions that he believes promote a divisive, race-focused narrative rather than objective facts. Examples cited include the American Art Museum’s exhibit suggesting that sculpture promotes scientific racism and the National Museum of African American History’s controversial characterizations of cultural traits. Trump emphasized that museums should educate rather than indoctrinate, aiming to restore the Smithsonian as a symbol of American pride and inspiration. He has tasked Vice President J.D. Vance with overseeing the reforms and ensuring that future funding prohibits support for ideologies he deems contrary to American values. Critics, including historians, argue that this initiative undermines the efforts of those dedicated to preserving and presenting a nuanced view of the nation’s history.
President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would seek to restore “truth and sanity” to the Smithsonian Institution after the museum system displayed symptoms of leftist capture in recent years.
An executive order from Trump noted that Americans have recently “witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”
The Smithsonian has “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology,” eroding the credibility of the iconic American institution.
Trump noted that one exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum entitled “The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture” claims that “sculpture has been a powerful tool in promoting scientific racism.”
He also referenced the National Museum of African American History and Culture infamously calling cultural traits like “hard work” and “individualism” inherently “White.”
The commander-in-chief likewise warned that “the forthcoming Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum plans on celebrating the exploits of male athletes participating in women’s sports.”
Beyond those two examples, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum asked a group of students from South Carolina to remove their pro-life hats two years ago while they paid a visit during the March for Life.
The order therefore made clear that “museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our d history.”
“To advance this policy, we will restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness –- igniting the imagination of young minds, honoring the richness of American history and innovation, and instilling pride in the hearts of all Americans,” the order continued.
The Smithsonian is a public-private partnership created as an act of Congress in 1846, according to a report from The Washington Post.
The outlet characterized the move from Trump as “an unprecedented act to edit an institution that has been expanding over many decades to include a wider, richer and more diverse telling of the nation’s history.”
Trump delegated the task of reforming the Smithsonian to Vice President J.D. Vance since he has a role on the Smithsonian Board of Regents.
Vance will be charged with removing “improper ideology” from the various museums and recommending to Trump “any additional actions necessary to fully effectuate such policies,” according to the executive order.
Trump also asked Congress to ensure future funds to the Smithsonian “prohibit expenditure on exhibits or programs that degrade d American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy.”
He also asked that the allocations require the Smithsonian to “celebrate the achievements of women in the American Women’s History Museum” and not “recognize men as women in any respect in the Museum.”
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum was meanwhile told to “provide sufficient funding, as available, to improve the infrastructure of Independence National Historical Park, which shall be complete by July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.”
Historians who spoke to the Post nevertheless balked at the executive order.
“Attacking the idea that telling the whole story of the United States is an ideological plot to cast the United States in a negative light testifies to a stunningly brittle insecurity about our nation and its past,” Chandra Manning, a professor of American history at Georgetown University, told the outlet.
“The president’s proclamation disrespects the thousands of sincere and dedicated researchers, curators, scientists, guides, interpreters, docents and countless other people who work hard every day to preserve and tell the nation’s story truthfully, and in ways that educate and inspire the American public,” Adam Rothman, another American history professor at Georgetown, claimed.
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