Visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History will soon be greeted by signs cautioning them that exhibits may be “inaccurate” — the latest front in Donald Trump’s campaign to reshape American culture.
The executive order, titled “Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution”, was signed on Friday and directs the Department of the Interior to install the warnings and to steer the public toward “accurate information regarding America’s history”. It accuses museum leadership of failing to celebrate the nation’s founders on the 250th anniversary of independence on 4 July, and claims that the leadership “views American history as a ‘prime tool’ to advance ideas of social justice and the radical transformation of our society”.
“Trump orders warning signs at Smithsonian museum, accusing it of anti-American bias and Marxist activism.”
An accompanying White House statement went further, accusing the museum of veering “toward extreme political activism, rooted in Marxism, to divide, dispirit, and discourage Americans”.
The Trump administration has long accused the Smithsonian — the world’s largest research museum, funded largely by the federal government and drawing 15 to 30 million visitors a year across 21 museums — of harbouring an anti-American bias. Friday’s order came days after Smithsonian director Anthea Hartig was grilled by Republican lawmakers in two congressional hearings, where the museum was accused of being “infected by a woke ideology that seeped into public displays, educational materials and planning documents”.
Democrats swiftly condemned the move. Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, ranking member of the House Administration Committee, wrote on X: “This EO is a clear political overreach, driven by an ideological agenda to rewrite American history. Our Smithsonian institutions do not belong to the President, but to the American people and so does our nation’s history.”
The Smithsonian did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump has previously signed orders intended to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programmes from the federal government, some of which have faced legal challenges. In March, he issued a separate order against the Smithsonian directing it to “eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology”.
With the latest order, the president is doubling down on a narrative that American cultural institutions have been contaminated by left-wing ideology — a charge that now carries the force of executive action.
The question of who gets to define “accurate” history is likely to spark further clashes between the White House and the museum world.