The order directs to “eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology” from the institute’s museums, centres and the National Zoo in Washington.
It also directs the interior secretary to restore federal properties, including parks, memorials and statues, which “have been improperly removed or changed in the last five years to perpetuate a false revision of history”.
The move is part of Trump’s effort to shape American culture, in addition to politics.
The order is titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”.
It says that Vice-President JD Vance, who became a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents due to his position in government, will lead the purge.
From The Guardian (GB):
Vice-President J.D. Vance has been directed to work with congressional leaders in the House and Senate to appoint new citizen members to the Smithsonian board of regents who will be “committed to advancing the policy of this order”.
In language that reflected Republican talking points often heard on hard-right news channels, Trump claimed the US had witnessed an effort to “rewrite history”.
“Under this historical revision, our Nation’s unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness is reconstructed as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed,” the president said.
Trump’s order pointed to an exhibit at the American Art Museum, titled: The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture.
