On Thursday, President Donald Trump enacted an executive order mandating Vice President JD Vance to remove “divisive race-centered ideology” from the museums and educational centers of the Smithsonian Institution, including the National Zoo. The order, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” criticizes the Smithsonian for adopting narratives that depict American and Western values as harmful and oppressive. According to the order, national capital museums should be educational sites, free from ideological biases and narratives that misrepresent collective historical narratives.
The executive order instructs Vice President Vance, along with Vince Haley, the assistant to the president for domestic policy, and Lindsey Halligan, the special assistant to the president and senior associate staff secretary, to engage with Congress in preventing funding for Smithsonian programs or exhibitions that undermine shared American values or advocate divisive ideologies contrary to federal law. Additionally, the order stipulates that future funding should acknowledge the contributions of women in the American Women’s History Museum and preclude recognizing men as women within its exhibitions.
Efforts to obtain a response from the Smithsonian by NPR were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
Furthermore, the order calls for appointing citizens to the Smithsonian Board of Regents who support the policies outlined in the order. This directive is one among a series initiated by President Trump since January, aimed at counteracting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives previously endorsed by federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts’ Challenge America program. This program primarily assisted small non-profits that served historically underserved communities.
The executive order rebukes the Biden Administration for promoting a “corrosive ideology” allegedly aimed at altering historical truths. It claims that a sustained effort has been made over the past decade to rewrite American history by replacing factual objectivity with ideologically driven narratives. The order asserts that this revisionism recasts America’s rich legacy of promoting liberty and human rights as inherently negative.
Lastly, the executive order contains directives to restore public monuments, memorials, and statues that were removed or altered to perpetuate misleading views of American history. It also seeks to enhance the infrastructure of Independence National Historical Park for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026.
