{"id":982,"date":"2025-03-29T00:52:51","date_gmt":"2025-03-29T00:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/03\/29\/trump-orders-smithsonian-to-promote-american-greatness-in-executive-order-the-new-york-times\/"},"modified":"2025-03-29T00:52:51","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T00:52:51","slug":"trump-orders-smithsonian-to-promote-american-greatness-in-executive-order-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/03\/29\/trump-orders-smithsonian-to-promote-american-greatness-in-executive-order-the-new-york-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Orders Smithsonian to Promote \u2018American Greatness\u2019 in Executive Order &#8211; The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"site-content\">\n<article id=\"story\">\n<div id=\"top-wrapper\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/#after-top\">SKIP ADVERTISEMENT<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<header>\n<p><h2 id=\"link-6c121f5e\" data-testid=\"headline\">Trump Calls on Smithsonian Institution to Promote \u2018American Greatness\u2019<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p id=\"article-summary\">The president complained in an executive order that the Smithsonian had advanced \u201cnarratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.\u201d<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"imageblock-wrapper\">\n<figure aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\">\n<div data-testid=\"imageContainer-children-Image\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)\" ><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)\" ><source media=\"(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"People wait in line near a white wall that says \u201cSmithsonian Institution.\u201d\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/28\/multimedia\/28cul-smithsonian-1-bkpt\/28cul-smithsonian-1-bkpt-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&#038;auto=webp&#038;disable=upscale\"   decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\"><\/picture><\/div><figcaption data-testid=\"photoviewer-children-ImageCaption\"><span>President Trump, who has been trying to put his stamp on cultural agencies, issued an executive order that aims to reshape the Smithsonian Institution.<\/span><span><span>Credit&#8230;<\/span><span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Eric Lee\/The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2025-03-28T18:52:39-04:00\"><span>March 28, 2025<\/span><span>Updated <span>6:52 p.m. ET<\/span><\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<\/header>\n<section name=\"articleBody\">\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<p>President Trump intensified his push to impose a more positive view of American history by moving to curb the independence of the Smithsonian Institution, which he wants to make into a \u201csymbol of inspiration and American greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/03\/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history\/\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">executive order<\/a> titled \u201cRestoring Truth and Sanity to American History,\u201d Mr. Trump took aim at what he described as a \u201crevisionist movement\u201d across the country that \u201cseeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.\u201d His order claimed that the Smithsonian, in particular, had \u201ccome under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology\u201d and that it promotes \u201cnarratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Trump does not directly control the Smithsonian, which is governed by a Board of Regents that includes a mixture of Democrats and Republicans and is overseen by Congress. In the order he called on Vice President JD Vance, who is a member of the Smithsonian\u2019s board, to work with Congress to prohibit expenditures on exhibitions or programs that \u201cdegrade shared American values, divide Americans by race or promote ideologies inconsistent with federal law.\u201d His executive order also called for making sure that the Smithsonian\u2019s American Women\u2019s History Museum, which is under development, does not \u201crecognize men as women in any respect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Smithsonian, which has 21 museums, libraries, research centers and the National Zoo, appeared to be caught off-guard by the order. When contacted by a reporter shortly after it was released on Thursday evening, several leaders said they were just learning about the new order themselves. The announcement recalled Mr. Trump\u2019s takeover of the Kennedy Center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/07\/us\/politics\/trump-kennedy-center.html?\" title>last month<\/a>, when he purged Biden appointees from the formerly bipartisan board and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/12\/arts\/music\/trump-kennedy-center-chairman.html\" title>installed himself<\/a> as its chairman.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<p>A spokeswoman for the Smithsonian declined to comment. The institution had closed its diversity office shortly after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/28\/arts\/design\/smithsonian-diversity-office-trump.html\" title>president signed<\/a> a January executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs at organizations receiving federal money. The Smithsonian receives nearly two-thirds of its $1 billion budget from the federal government, as appropriated by Congress.<\/p>\n<p>In another passage of the order that could have sweeping implications, Mr. Trump directed the secretary of the Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, to determine whether, since 2020, \u201cpublic monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties within the Department of the Interior\u2019s jurisdiction have been removed or changed to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the order directs, all properties should \u201cfocus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people or, with respect to natural features, the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, many park service sites have updated their interpretive materials to take account of subjects like slavery and the appropriation of Native American lands. Others have sought to tell broader, more complex stories about the founders and other leaders.<\/p>\n<p>A planned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/smart-news\/lincoln-memorial-new-underground-museum-2026-180981736\/\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">$69 million renovation<\/a> of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall includes a new underground museum that aims to tell a broader story about the memorial, including its role as a site for civil rights demonstrations like the 1963 March on Washington. A renovation of the nearby Jefferson Memorial will provide \u201cmore perspectives on Thomas Jefferson\u2019s multifaceted story,\u201d according to the parks service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<p>Douglas Brinkley, a historian at Rice University who has written frequently about the National Park Service, said that federal help with deferred maintenance at many sites is much needed, and welcome. But he said that interference with labels and interpretive material \u2014 such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npca.org\/articles\/7142-parks-group-condemns-erasure-of-lgbtq-history-from-park-service-website\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">recent deletion<\/a> of material relating to the history of L.G.B.T.Q. protest at Independence Hall from the park service\u2019s website \u2014 was troubling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe idea of rewriting storyboards or doing away with any monuments is anti-American in spirit,\u201d he said. \u201cEach of these sites has been curated over decades.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Trump has broad authority over the Department of the Interior, a part of the executive branch. But the president\u2019s efforts to control the Smithsonian, which is in the middle of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.edu\/newsdesk\/releases\/smithsonian-launches-biggest-fundraising-campaign-its-178-year-history\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a $2.5 billion capital drive<\/a>, are more complicated.<\/p>\n<p>The Smithsonian\u2019s Board of Regents has 17 members. The vice president and chief justice of the Supreme Court are on the board by virtue of their positions. Three members are appointed by the House of Representatives and three by the Senate, with the remaining nine nominated by the board and appointed for a six-year term by a joint resolution, signed by the president, according to the institution\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.edu\/regents\/members\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">website<\/a>. The current chairwoman is Risa J. Lavizzo-Mourey, a geriatrician and health policy expert.<\/p>\n<p>The current secretary of the Smithsonian, Lonnie G. Bunch III, was the founding director of the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of African American History and Culture. He has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/07\/02\/business\/smithsonian-lonnie-bunch-corner-office.html\" title>forcefully advocated<\/a> for what he describes as \u201cnuance and complexity\u201d in history, and warned of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/07\/20\/opinions\/civil-rights-act-1964-anniversary-racism-bunch\/index.html\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">continuing backlash<\/a> against civil rights progress.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Trump\u2019s order criticized the African American Museum, saying it had \u201cproclaimed that \u2018hard work,\u2019 \u2018individualism,\u2019 and \u2018the nuclear family\u2019 are aspects of \u2018White culture.\u2019\u201d In 2020, the museum did include a worksheet with those claims as part of a new Talking About Race online portal. But after it <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByronYork\/status\/1283372233730203651\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">drew criticism<\/a>, Mr. Bunch ordered it removed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<p>\u201cI think the document itself was wrong and flawed,\u201d he told a Congressional oversight committee in 2023. \u201cI do think, however, it\u2019s important for the Smithsonian to help the country grapple with questions of race, so I\u2019m not going to run away from that. But I agree with you very much that that document is not the kind of document that should be at the Smithsonian.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the executive order, Mr. Trump claimed that the American Women\u2019s History Museum, which is under development, \u201cplans to celebrate male athletes participating in women\u2019s sports.\u201d The museum\u2019s collections and digital exhibits include material about trans women, including the activist <a href=\"https:\/\/womenshistory.si.edu\/herstory\/activism\/object\/sylvia-rivera\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Sylvia Rivera<\/a>, who helped lead the 1969 Stonewall rebellion, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/womenshistory.si.edu\/object\/nmah_1918277\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">professional skateboarder<\/a> Cher Strauberry, who donated one of her skate decks to the museum. But leaders have not released plans for the physical museum, which is still seeking a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/10\/27\/arts\/smithsonian-museums-latinos-women.html\" title>permanent space<\/a> on the National Mall.<\/p>\n<p>Laura Raicovich, a former museum executive who wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.versobooks.com\/products\/2560-culture-strike?srsltid=AfmBOor__fFxFS8IHXz4OgaBLG6rdczphbaGB5Tt874VotoJ6cTtImsS\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a book<\/a> on the relationship between art, protest and politics, said that the new executive order was a powerful lesson in how governments seek to shape history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe order itself is a clear example of the weaponization of language by the administration to undo the necessary historical correctives undertaken by knowledge institutions in recent years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Some historians are defending the Smithsonian, which is not just a public museum but also a highly respected research institution. James Grossman, the executive director of the American Historical Association, the country\u2019s largest group of professional historians, said the fact sheet accompanying the order \u201cegregiously misrepresents the work of the Smithsonian.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe historical scholarship in the Smithsonian is careful, honest and based on historical evidence,\u201d he said. \u201cHistorians draw on that evidence to understand how our nation has evolved. That evolution includes elements that should make us proud. But also elements that we should not be proud of, but from which we should learn.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<p>The new executive order follows several others early in Mr. Trump\u2019s second term that focus on promoting what Mr. Trump terms \u201cpatriotic history,\u201d which he has said should be emphasized during the run-up to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in July 2026. The order also specifies that the federal government provide funding for the continuing restoration of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the declaration was signed.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Mr. Trump issued an executive order re-establishing his 1776 Commission, which was disbanded by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in January 2021, days after issuing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/01\/18\/us\/politics\/trump-1776-commission-report.html\" title>a sweeping report<\/a> blasting liberal accounts of American history. Another order created a new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/01\/celebrating-americas-250th-birthday\/\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cTask Force 250,\u201d<\/a> led by Mr. Trump, that is charged with creating a \u201cgrand celebration\u201d for the semiquincentennial, as the 250th anniversary is known.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Zachary Small is a Times reporter writing about the art world\u2019s relationship to money, politics and technology.<span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/zachary-small\">More about Zachary Small<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Jennifer Schuessler is a reporter for the Culture section of The Times who covers intellectual life and the world of ideas.<span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/jennifer-schuessler\">More about Jennifer Schuessler<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"bottom-wrapper\">\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/#after-bottom\">SKIP ADVERTISEMENT<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Trump Calls on Smithsonian Institution to Promote \u2018American Greatness\u2019 The president complained in an executive order that the Smithsonian had advanced \u201cnarratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.\u201d President Trump, who has been trying to put his stamp on cultural agencies, issued an executive order that aims [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}