Trump orders signage to be erected outside Smithsonian museum warning visitors of political bias

On July 24, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the National Park Service (NPS) director, and the president’s domestic policy aide to install temporary signage on NPS-maintained sidewalks and walkways leading to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (NMAH) in Washington, DC. The signs must warn visitors that exhibits are allegedly politically biased and should be renovated in line with a 162-page Domestic Policy Council report released July 4, and the order also urges “temporary exhibits or signage” to “correct” purported inaccuracies. A White House fact sheet claimed the Smithsonian is engaged in “extreme political activism” and alleged it cannot be trusted to steward the more than $1 billion in annual taxpayer funding it receives (about 62% of its budget). The order followed NMAH director Anthea Hartig’s July 21–22 testimony before a House subcommittee hearing titled “Rewriting American History,” where she defended the museum’s approach; Smithsonian and NMAH spokespeople declined to comment.

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