United States: White House wants to "align" Washington museums with Trump's vision

The White House announced on Tuesday, August 12, to the institution that manages Washington's main museums that the American administration would conduct a thorough review to ensure their "alignment" with Donald Trump's vision of America, based, according to his letter, on "truth and reason."

The review, which the White House published on its website in response to the festivities surrounding the 250th anniversary of the United States next year, will focus on the exhibitions, texts, conservation and programming of eight museums in the capital managed by the Smithsonian Institution.

"This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President's directive to celebrate America's exceptionalism, to remove divisive or partisan rhetoric, and to restore trust in our cultural institutions," the letter reads.

The White House is referring to an executive order signed in March aimed at regaining control over the content of Smithsonian museums, which Donald Trump has accused of "historical revisionism" and of having carried out racial "ideological indoctrination" over the past decade.

"In this spirit and in accordance with the executive order" aimed at "restoring truth and reason to American history, we will conduct a thorough internal review," the letter added.

The institutions affected are the Museum of American History, the Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), the Museum of the American Indian, the Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Within "120 days," or by early 2026, "museums should begin implementing corrections where necessary," the administration anticipates, including "replacing divisive or ideological language with descriptions that are inclusive, historically accurate, and constructive."

The Smithsonian Institution is "reviewing the letter" from the White House, it said in a statement, adding that it would continue its work "based on a deep commitment to academic excellence, rigorous research, and the reliable and factual representation of history."

In early August, the Washington Post reported that the American History Museum had removed from an exhibition space any reference to the president's two impeachment proceedings. The museum later claimed that the temporary reference had been removed without any request from above.

Donald Trump's conservative administration has embarked on a sweeping takeover of cultural institutions over which it has influence, from museums to universities, in order to purge them of what it considers to be progressive ideas that value and support minorities.