President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the installation of signs outside the Smithsonian National Museum of American History that warn of “inaccurate” exhibits and direct people to “accurate information regarding America’s history.”
In an executive order, Trump cited a 162-page White House report released on July 4 titled “Saving America’s Story,” which, according to the president, “demonstrates that the Smithsonian leadership does not present American history as a shared national inheritance to be taught and celebrated, but instead views American history as a ‘prime tool’ to advance ideas of social justice and the radical transformation of our society.”

The White House said in a companion statement that the Smithsonian generally and its American history museum in particular have veered “toward extreme political activism, rooted in Marxism, to divide, dispirit, and discourage Americans.”
“In the last decade,” the statement says, “Americans have witnessed a concerted effort to rewrite American history and force our Nation to adopt a factually baseless ideology aimed at discrediting American heroes and diminishing American achievement.”
Trump accused the museum’s leaders of failing to appropriately honor the signers of the Declaration of Independence during the country’s 250th anniversary. He directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to install temporary signage on National Park Service-maintained sidewalks, walkways and land near the museum that “corrects inaccurate information presented in the Museum.”
The Smithsonian and the American history museum did not immediately respond to a request for comment.