Trump order targets Smithsonian Institution’s ‘divisive ideology’

President Trump aims to “eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology” from Smithsonian Institution facilities.

An executive order signed Thursday directs Vice President J.D. Vance to revitalize Smithsonian institutes, including the museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo. 

It directs the administration to work with Congress to prohibit any funding for exhibits or programs that “degrade shared American values, divide Americans by race, or promote ideologies inconsistent with Federal law,” according to a White House fact sheet.

It also tells the institution to celebrate the achievements of women and “not recognize men as women.”

Mr. Vance and Congress are instructed to appoint members to the Smithsonian board of regents — of which Mr. Vance is already a member — “who are committed to advancing the celebration of America’s extraordinary heritage and progress.”

The order also calls for any federal parks, monuments, memorials, statues and markers that have been removed or changed in the last five years “to perpetuate a false revision of history or improperly minimize or disparage certain historical figures or events” to be restored.

Any improvements to Independence Hall also need to be completed by July 4, 2026, in time to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Mr. Trump said there has been a “concerted effort to rewrite American history and force our nation to adopt a factually baseless ideology aimed at diminishing American achievement.”

The fact sheet slammed the Biden administration for pushing “divisive ideology that reconstrued America’s promotion of liberty as fundamentally flawed, infecting revered institutions like the Smithsonian and national parks with false narratives.”

It cited various exhibits in Smithsonian institutions that go against Mr. Trump’s orders, like an exhibit at the American Women’s History Museum that marked the 50th anniversary of Title IX and included transgender athletes.