Trump Escalates Culture War: Orders Warning Signs at Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
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In a move targeting academic freedom and historical scholarship, President Donald Trump has ordered warning signs outside the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, accusing the institution of spreading 'inaccuracies' based on a partisan White House report.
President Donald Trump on Friday intensified his administration's ongoing assault on historical truth and academic independence by directing the Interior Department and the National Park Service to install temporary warning signs along the sidewalks leading to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The signs, which reference a July 4 White House report, are designed to intimidate museum visitors by alleging that the museum presents 'inaccurate' information about American history—a claim rooted in right-wing efforts to rewrite the nation’s past. Trump’s directive, which cites his March 2025 executive order, is part of a broader campaign to restrict federal funding for educational programs that dare to address systemic injustice and promote a more inclusive understanding of history, dismissing them as 'divisive narratives' and 'improper ideology.'
In the order, Trump accuses the museum’s leadership of failing to present American history as a 'shared national inheritance,' instead scapegoating them for advancing so-called social-justice ideas. He has mobilized Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the Office of Management and Budget director, the General Services Administration administrator, and his domestic policy aide to use all available means to enforce this ideological crackdown.
The Smithsonian declined to comment on the order, but Secretary Lonnie Bunch previously defended the museum’s work, rejecting the White House’s mischaracterization and reaffirming the institution’s commitment to rigorous scholarship, accuracy, nonpartisanship, and integrity—values now under threat from the administration’s politicized agenda.