Trump order targets ‘improper ideology’ at Smithsonian museums

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday taking aim at the Smithsonian and its museums, education and research centers.

Trump directed Vice President JD Vance to eliminate “improper, divisive, or anti-American” ideology from programs at the Smithsonian Institution, which receives federal funding.

“Once widely respected as a symbol of American excellence and a global icon of cultural achievement, the Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology,” the order reads. “This shift has promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.”

In the order, Trump accuses the Biden administration of advancing “corrosive ideology” at the museums, singling out certain entities, like the National Museum of African American History and Culture that he said perpetuated “divisive” and “race-centered” ideas.

Representatives for the Smithsonian Institution did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday night.

Vance, who is a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, will also be tasked with working with congressional leaders to appoint board members who are “committed to advancing the celebration of America’s extraordinary heritage and progress.”

Trump’s order further directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to restore federal parks and monuments that have been “improperly 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.”

The order is in line with Trump’s rationale for reverting the name of Alaska’s Mount Denali to Mount McKinley, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s explanation for reversing a Biden administration decision to rename military bases honoring Confederate leaders.

The order comes as the Trump administration presses forward in its war on diversity, equity and inclusion, a widely used label applied to efforts to improve workplace culture and create more opportunities for disadvantaged groups.

Trump has issued directives placing all federal employees in DEI roles on administrative leave, closing all DEI-related offices and programs and removing mentions to the framework from all federal websites and social media accounts.

Similarly, the Education Department this month announced investigations into more than 50 universities it accused of “engaging in race-exclusionary practices in their graduate programs.”

And the Defense Department this month deleted thousands of pages honoring contributions by women, Black, Native American and other minority groups as part of an effort to ensure it did not promote any DEI concepts. Some of the pages were restored after public backlash.

The Smithsonian Institution was created by Congress in 1846 to serve as an “establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”

It consists of 21 museums, 14 education and research centers and the National Zoo, all maintained by more than 6,500 employees and more than 3,800 onsite volunteers. More than 17 million people visit the collection of museums annually.

The Smithsonian has two sources of funding: federal appropriations and income generated from gifts, revenue-generating activities and investments. In its most recent budget request, the institution asked Congress for more than $1 billion to fund “essential operating expenses.”

“Donors tend to be attracted to museum openings and exhibitions, not the prosaic annual budgetary requirements of staffing, maintenance, and operations that we rely on the federal Government for help to meet. For all our collaborations and ancillary sources of funding, the U.S. Congress remains our most important partner,” Lonnie G. Bunch, the secretary for the Smithsonian said in the request.

Trump’s order directs his administration to work with Congress to ensure that future Smithsonian funding does not go to exhibits or programs that “degrade shared American values, divide Americans by race, or promote ideologies inconsistent with Federal law” or “recognize men as women.”