Donald Trump ordered the interior department on Friday to place temporary signs in front of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History accusing the museum of inaccuracy. The signs are to go along the National Park Service-maintained sidewalks and walkways leading into the museum, making the dispute visible to visitors before they enter.
The order directs Doug Burgum to work with the National Park Service and Vince Haley on the wording. Trump’s instruction says the signs shall notify visitors that the museum exhibits should be renovated consistent with the findings in the report and send the public to other places for better American history information.
Doug Burgum and Vince Haley
The same group is also being directed to produce signs criticizing the Smithsonian for not commemorating the Declaration of Independence enough during the 250th anniversary of its adoption. The order puts the interior department, the National Park Service and the White House’s domestic policy council into the same signage process, with the exact language still to be written before the signs go up.
That follows a White House domestic policy council report, Saving America’s Story, which accused the Smithsonian leadership of ideological capture. The report said the Smithsonian explicitly adopted an ideological framework that no longer treats the American story as a shared national inheritance to be taught or celebrated.
Anthea Hartig in hearings
Earlier this month, the American Historical Association praised the Smithsonian Institution’s “commitment to scholarship and accuracy” while Anthea Hartig defended the museum’s interpretations in congressional hearings. She said, “We honor the declaration, the revolution, the constitution, our national symbols,” and added, “And we tell the truth about the times that the country fell short of its own founding ideals. Telling our story fully is a form of respect for the American people and a commitment to constantly being in pursuit of a more perfect union.”
The signs would place that dispute in front of visitors on the walkways leading into the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, turning a policy fight into something people see before they reach the door. What exact language will appear on the temporary signs outside the museum is the question left open by Friday’s order.
