On March 27, he issued an executive order with the provocative title, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” It declared the administration’s policy “to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums,” and “solemn and uplifting public monuments.”

On Aug. 19, 2025, Trump escalated his attack on the Smithsonian. “The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was…” he wrote in a Truth Social post. “Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future. We are not going to allow this to happen.”