On Thursday, President Donald Trump issued an order to remove “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution, a renowned museum and research complex showcasing U.S. history and culture. In an executive order, the Republican president assigned Vice President JD Vance to carry out this directive. The order also instructed the Interior Department to restore federal parks, monuments and memorials which had been “removed or changed in the last years to perpetuate a false revision of history.”

The order, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” does not clearly define what the president considers anti-American ideology. However, it implies that Trump aims to remove aspects of history that conservatives see as revisionist and focused on systemic racism in the United States. The order criticises explicitly the National Museum of African American History and Culture, arguing that it presents “hard work,” “individualism,” and “the nuclear family” as elements of “White culture.”

The order claims the American Women’s History Museum intends to recognise male athletes competing in women’s sports. The White House did not provide further details, and the Smithsonian and the African-American History Museum declined to comment.

The Smithsonian Institution consists of 21 museums, primarily in Washington, D.C., along the National Mall, including the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of American History, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. It also operates 14 education and research centres and the National Zoo. According to its website, it is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex. The order aligns with the Trump administration’s broader efforts to eliminate diversity and inclusion programs across government agencies, universities, and corporations. Vance serves as a member of the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents.

Trump’s order stated that the Democratic Biden administration had “pushed a divisive ideology that reconstrued America’s promotion of liberty as fundamentally flawed, inflecting revered institutions like the Smithsonian and national parks with false narratives.”

Earlier this year, Trump appointed himself as chairman of the Kennedy Center in Washington, signalling his intent to leave a lasting influence on U.S. arts and culture during his presidency. He has also been a vocal opponent of renaming or removing Confederate statues and monuments. Despite a federal law prohibiting the honouring of generals who fought for the South during the Civil War, Trump reinstated the original names of Fort Benning and Fort Bragg for two U.S. Army bases. His administration justified the move by stating that the names now recognise different individuals, all of whom were former soldiers.

In 2017, former President Trump found himself at the centre of controversy when he defended white nationalists protesting the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump's comments, where he mentioned that there were "very fine people on both sides" of the clash, ignited widespread outrage.