President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric against museums and alleged “WOKE” reveals on Tuesday, saying “everything” is centered on highlighting unfavourable elements of American historical past, together with “how bad slavery was.”
“The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“We are not going to allow this to happen, and I have instructed my attorneys to go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities where tremendous progress has been made,” he added.
Trump’s feedback come days after the White House introduced an unprecedented, sweeping assessment of the Smithsonian Institution, which runs the nation’s main public museums. The initiative, a trio of prime Trump aides wrote in a letter to Smithsonian Institution secretary Lonnie Bunch III final week, “aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
The letter stated the assessment would focus on public-facing content material, the curatorial course of to know how work is chosen for reveals, present and future exhibition planning, the usage of current supplies and collections and pointers for narrative requirements.
The Smithsonian declined to remark on Trump’s newest remarks. NCS has reached out to the White House for additional readability on the method Trump described together with his attorneys and on his feedback about slavery.
Earlier this yr, Trump signed an govt order that put Vice President JD Vance, who serves on the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents, in control of stopping authorities spending on reveals that don’t align with the administration’s agenda. He additionally tasked a former member of his authorized staff, lawyer Lindsey Halligan, with serving to to root out “improper ideology” on the Smithsonian.
“Museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to divisive narratives,” the manager order stated.
Betsy Klein contributed to this report.
This is a growing story and will likely be up to date.