Donald Trump signed another executive order on Thursday, this time taking aim at “anti-American ideology” in some of the country’s top museums.
The US President has told Vice President JD Vance to eliminate “divisive narratives” from programs at the Smithsonian Institution, which operates more than 20 centres visited by up to 30 million visitors every year.
The order, entitled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History", is aimed at eliminating funding for schemes with “improper” viewpoints.
Mr Vance, who is a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, will additionally be tasked with working with congressional leaders to appoint new board members who are “committed to advancing the celebration of America’s extraordinary heritage and progress”.
The order also directs Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to restore federal properties, such as statues and memorials, which “have been improperly removed or changed in the last five years to perpetuate a false revision of history”.
Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the site of the Declaration of Independence, are among the sites that will undergo significant renovations ahead of the 250th anniversary of the founding of America.
Mr Trump accused the previous administration under Joe Biden of advancing “corrosive ideology” at the Institution.
Museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn – not to be subjected to indoctrination
He singled out certain entities, such as the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which was opened in 2016 by Barack Obama, for proclaiming that “hard work” and “the nuclear family” are aspects of “white culture”.
The Republican leader went on to allege that the American Women's History Museum, which has been in development since 2020, is planning to "recognise men as women".
Representatives for the Smithsonian Institution have yet to comment.
Founded in 1846 under then-president James K. Polk as an "establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men”, the Smithsonian Institution operates 21 museums and research centres operating out of Washington DC, Virginia and New York.
They include the National Museum of American History, the National Portrait Gallery and the National Zoo.
But since being sworn in for a second term at the White House, Mr Trump has set out to reshape American culture, which he says has been marred by “wokeism”.
Over the past few months, Mr Trump has fired the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and ended government support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
