Trump signs executive order to change monuments and 'restore truth to American history'
The 47th President of the US has approved more than 100 executive orders (EOs) since taking office. Recently, the POTUS signed an EO about American elections that faced wide criticism. He also issued orders to change the Gulf of Mexico's name to the Gulf of America, remove the Department of Education, and make changes that could greatly affect medical patients.
On March 27, he approved another order calling for the "restoration of Federal parks, monuments, memorials, statues, markers" and ensuring the Smithsonian "celebrates American history" and "greatness".
According to the White House website, the order instructs Vice President JD Vance - as a Smithsonian Board of Regents member - to "work to eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology from the Smithsonian" and "the National Zoo".
The directive also requires the Administration to collaborate with Congress to guarantee that "future Smithsonian appropriations prohibit funding for exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans by race, or promote ideologies inconsistent with Federal law" and "celebrate women's achievements in the American Women's History Museum and do not recognize men as women".
The order extends beyond museums and centers, instructing the "Secretary of the Interior" to "restore Federal parks, monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties that have been improperly removed or changed in the last five years to perpetuate a false revision of history or improperly minimize or disparage certain historical figures or events".
But what reasons exist for targeting the Smithsonian Institution?
Under the "Combating Corrosive Ideology" section, the order claims that the previous administration "pushed a divisive ideology that reconstrued America's promotion of liberty as fundamentally flawed, infecting revered institutions like the Smithsonian and national parks with false narratives".
Despite "once being revered throughout the world as a symbol of American excellence," the Smithsonian "has recently promoted divisive ideology that American and Western values are harmful".
The order lists several examples of such "divisive ideology" from the American Art Museum featuring an exhibit that "purports to address how 'sculpture has been a powerful tool in promoting scientific racism'" and claims that the United States has "used race to establish and maintain systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement" to the "American Women's History Museum's plans to celebrate male athletes participating in women's sports".
The order states Trump is "committed" to "celebrating American greatness" and "building a sense of national pride." He signed this directive as a way to "ensure that American history is celebrated accurately, fairly, and with pride—honoring the remarkable progress, liberty, and ingenuity that define our great nation."
