Interior Department Pushes Costly Signs to Enforce Trump-Era Historical Narrative at Smithsonian
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The Interior Department, bowing to a Trump administration directive, has proposed spending $84,000 on 12 temporary signs outside the National Museum of American History, aiming to reinforce a narrow, sanitized version of the nation's past.
The Interior Department has sent letters to Senators Lisa Murkowski and another colleague outlining a proposal to place 12 temporary signs outside the National Museum of American History. This plan, with a staggering price tag of $84,000, comes without transparency about the signs' size or wording, despite the signage being ordered as far back as July.
In a September 3 letter to Senator Murkowski, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum revealed that this effort is a direct response to the administration's March 2025 executive order, cynically titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” This order, echoing right-wing talking points, rails against a so-called “revisionist movement” that it claims seeks to portray the nation’s founding principles and historical milestones negatively—ignoring the real, complex, and often painful truths of American history.
The proposed signs would be designed to align with the executive order’s objectives, likely promoting a whitewashed and exclusionary narrative, though the actual content remains conveniently undisclosed.