President Trump orders removal of ‘improper ideology’ from top US. museums

President Donald Trump on Thursday, March 27, 2025, announced plans to remove what he describes as “corrosive” anti-American ideology from the Smithsonian Institution.

Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum complex.

In one of his latest executive orders signed on Thursday, Trump placed Vice President JD Vance in charge of overseeing the changes to the museum complex.

The executive orders were titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”,

The changes were to “restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness”.

Trump’s executive order states:

“The Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology.”

There are reportedly a few exhibits at the American Art Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

These were among the Smithsonian institutions singled out for removal.

This is in line with Trump’s order for promoting “narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive”.

The executive order stated:

“Museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn, not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history,” .

The Washington, DC-based institution includes 21 individual museums and the National Zoo.

Some of the most popular include the National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of American History.

Vance is a member of the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents.

He said tt was the policy of his Administration to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums.

This restoratiom he said, is to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of:

• their extraordinary heritage,
• consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and
• unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing,” the order states.

Since his inauguration in January, Trump has moved to reverse policies supporting “diversity, equity and inclusion.”

These reverse policies are better known by the acronym DEI – that became widespread under his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

Trump and other Republicans also want to reverse the spread of “critical race theory”, which explores how racism is inherent in US institutions.

The theory has gained mainstream acceptance in recent years, particularly on museum and university campuses.

This follows a major racial reckoning set off by the 2020 police killing of George Floyd, a Black American man.

Under Trump’s executive order, the Smithsonian will be prohibited from hosting or funding exhibits that:

• “degrade shared American values,
• divide Americans based on race, or
• promote programs or ideologies inconstant with Federal law and policy”.

The Women’s History Museum, which is still under development, was also banned from hosting exhibits that celebrate trans women.

The executive order called for the restoration of “Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums.”

Analysts say it suggests some parts of the US could see the return of hundreds of Confederate monuments and symbols taken down since 2020.

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