The president directed federal agencies to install signage near the National Museum of American History that challenges exhibits his administration says present inaccurate or ideologically driven accounts of the nation’s past.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump on Friday ordered his administration to place warning signs outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, escalating his campaign against exhibits he says distort the country’s history through ideological framing.
Under the presidential order, federal agencies are instructed to install temporary exhibits or signs on National Park Service-maintained sidewalks, walkways and public land surrounding the museum. The materials are intended to correct information the administration considers inaccurate and may direct visitors to other historical resources or locations.
The order did not identify which outside institutions or materials would be recommended.
“Because the museum has failed to appropriately honor the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence during this 250th anniversary year of the founding of our country,” the order states, agencies “shall install temporary exhibits or signage on N.P.S.-maintained sidewalks, walkways, and land used by the public that corrects inaccurate information presented in the museum.”
The directive followed the release of a 162-page report by the White House Domestic Policy Council accusing museum leadership of turning the institution into a “political instrument” used to advance ideological priorities at the expense of its original purpose.
Congress approved the museum in 1955 with a mission to present the national story of the United States and “place before” the public “a stimulating permanent exposition that commemorates our heritage of freedom and highlights the basic elements of our way of life.”
Museum Director Anthea Hartig defended the institution’s approach during congressional testimony this week, saying the goal was to broaden historical interpretation rather than erase established accounts, according to The New York Times.
“When historians talk about reframing a traditional narrative, we don’t mean erasing it,” Hartig said. “We mean adding the evidence, the voices, the objects that earlier tellings left out so that more Americans can see themselves reflected in the national story.”
House Republicans rejected that explanation and accused Hartig of allowing progressive ideology to reshape exhibits, including materials they said portrayed even Mickey Mouse through the lens of racism.
Friday’s order builds on Trump’s March 27, 2025, executive action, which directed federal agencies to remove what the administration described as revisionist and ideologically driven material from federally supported museums, monuments and historical sites.
The new directive places the dispute directly outside the museum, where visitors could encounter the administration’s objections before entering the building. It also deepens the conflict between the White House and Smithsonian leadership over whether recent exhibit changes provide a fuller historical account or substitute political advocacy for the museum’s congressionally established mission.
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