Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
President Donald Trump has ordered sit-ins outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of History to warn visitors that his administration’s views are “not accurate.”
The order directs the Interior Department to issue warnings and direct people where to find “accurate information about American history.”
The Trump administration has accused the world’s largest research museum, the Smithsonian Institution, as well as other academic institutions of anti-American bias.
The Smithsonian did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.
Friday’s order — titled Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution — accused museum leaders of not doing enough to honor America’s founding fathers on the nation’s 250th anniversary of Independence on July 4.
The museum’s leadership team “views American history as a ‘primary tool’ for advancing ideas of social justice and radical change in our society,” says the museum’s leadership team.
Accompanying statement from the White House, External They also accused the museum of being “an extremist political movement, rooted in Marxism, to divide, divide, and discourage Americans.”
Friday’s order does not specify which sources the White House believes are best qualified to tell America’s story.
Trump’s order came days after Smithsonian director Anita Hartig was grilled by Republican lawmakers at two congressional hearings, saying the museum was “contaminated by activist ideology that seeped into public displays, educational materials and planning documents.”
Earlier this month, the White House’s Domestic Policy Council released a scathing report saying the museum would “destroy our heritage.”
Trump has moved to radically reshape American culture, which he says has been tainted by “awakened” left-wing thinking. He has signed several executive orders — some of which have led to legal challenges — aimed at removing diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the federal government.
In March, he issued a separate order against the Smithsonian, instructing it to “remove inappropriate, divisive, or anti-American sentiment.”
The Smithsonian is largely funded by the federal government. The museums offer free admission to 15 to 30 million visitors each year. It operates 21 museums in Washington, Virginia and New York.
They include the National Museum of American History, the National Portrait Gallery, the Museum of American Art, the National Zoo, and more than a dozen others.
