UJ
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President Donald Trump is broadening his attempts to affect American cultural and artistic institutions by focusing on the Smithsonian Institution, an extensive organization that includes the National Zoo and a collection of museums central to tourism in the nation’s capital.
In an executive order signed on Thursday night, Trump appointed Vice President JD Vance to oversee the reduction of government funding for “exhibits or programs that undermine shared American values, create racial divides, or endorse programs or ideologies that conflict with Federal laws and policies.” Vance is a member of the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents.
“Once highly regarded as a representation of American excellence and a worldwide symbol of cultural achievement, the Smithsonian Institution has in recent years been influenced by a divisive, race-focused ideology,” the order states. “This change has led to narratives that depict American and Western values as fundamentally harmful and oppressive.”
The Smithsonian Institution is the largest museum complex in the world, featuring 21 museums and the National Zoo. According to its website, nearly 17 million visitors flocked to Smithsonian sites last year, with admission at most of the museums being free.
UJ has contacted the Smithsonian Institution for a response.
The order seems to be aimed at prompting the museums to downplay or distort frank conversations about the history and ramifications of racism in the U.S., following similar directives that seek to impose the president’s influence over law firms and educational institutions.
This also comes on the heels of his assertive attempt to take control of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., where he recently restructured the board of trustees and emerged as chairman of a newly formed board.
Trump has vowed to enhance the center and eliminate programs he disapproves of, including drag shows.
Earlier this month, the president also enacted an order instructing the Institution of Museum and Library Services, along with several other government bodies, to be “dismantled to the fullest extent allowed by applicable law.” The IMLS provides support to museums and libraries across all 50 states.
Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas criticized the order on Thursday, stating in a post on X, “First Trump eliminates any mention of diversity from the present – now he aims to erase it from our history. Let me be PERFECTLY clear— you cannot erase our past, and you cannot obstruct our future.”
In the order, Trump specifically called out the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Smithsonian American Art Museum for showcasing exhibits and endorsing language he found objectionable.
The order claimed that the National Museum of African American History and Culture “has stated that ‘hard work,’ ‘individualism,’ and ‘the nuclear family’ are elements of ‘White culture.’”
This section of the order seemingly references an educational resource discussing race that was issued by the museum in 2020, which the museum promptly retracted and apologized for.
Trump visited the museum during his first term in 2017, shortly after its grand opening, where he promised to mend a “divided country” and vowed to do “everything I can to uphold that promise of freedom for African Americans and for every American.”
It remains uncertain how the order will impact the museum’s extensive exhibitions that encompass candid discussions about the legacy of slavery in the Americas.
The order also criticizes a sculpture exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum that explores “the ways in which sculpture has shaped and reflected perceptions and understandings of race in the United States” as well as a proposed exhibit at the upcoming American Women’s History Museum that the order claims celebrated contributions from transgender athletes.
The order further mandates Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to “allocate adequate funding” to rejuvenate Independence Hall National Historic Park in Philadelphia, which briefly functioned as the seat of the federal government and was the site of debates over the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, in preparation for the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the declaration next July 4.
It also directs Burgum to investigate whether any statues or memorials under the Department of the Interior’s purview have been “removed or altered to support a false representation of American history” since January 1, 2020.
While this timeframe includes the final year of Trump’s first term, it also covers the period during which numerous statues honoring Confederate leaders, conquistadors, and colonial figures were taken down across the U.S. amidst racial reckoning and public outrage following George Floyd’s murder in the summer of 2020.
Burgum is also instructed to ensure that memorials “do not feature descriptions, depictions, or other content that unjustly disparage Americans of the past or present (including individuals from colonial periods),” a directive that could be interpreted as leading to the removal of mentions of slave-owning among some of America’s Founding Fathers.
