In March of 2025, President Donald Trump announced an executive order named, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” His plan overhauls Smithsonian Museums to match the ideals of Americanism. 

Within the executive order released by whitehouse.gov in March, Section One details the order’s Purpose and Policy. The order details work done by the Biden administration and states they, “…sponsored training by an organization that advocates dismantling ‘Western foundations’ and ‘interrogating institutional racism’ and pressured National Historical Park rangers that their racial identity should dictate how they convey history to visiting Americans because America is purportedly racist.” 

The order further lists examples from specific museums, such as the American Art Museum, which they say showcases an exhibit that represents how “[s]ocieties including the United States have used race to establish and maintain systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement.” Another example is the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which the order states “…has proclaimed that ‘hard word,’ ‘individualism,’ and ‘the nuclear family’ are aspects of ‘White culture.’” 

In Section Two, titled, “Saving Our Smithsonian,” the order details who will oversee enforcement of this order at specific Smithsonian museums. Vice President JD Vance, Senior Associate Staff Secretary Lindsey Halligan and other advisors will ensure that the Smithsonian Institution, education and research centers, and National Zoo are not promoting what they deem to be inappropriate ideologies, which don’t align with the policy.

Section Three, titled, “Restoring Independence Hall,” states that the Secretary of the Interior must fund improvements to the infrastructure of Independence National Historical Park. This renovation is set for completion by July 4, 2026. 

The final section, titled, “Restoring Truth in American History,” explains that the Secretary of the Interior will be looking into monuments, memorials, statues, markers and other similar properties to make sure they are not portraying American History falsely. The main focus is to make sure these properties highlight the “…greatness of achievements and progress of the American people or, with respect to natural features, the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape.” 

While the initial order by Trump’s review of Smithsonian Museums was released in March, a more recent article published by the White House has a different tone to it. The article titled “President Trump is Right About the Smithsonian,” which was released Aug. 21, 2025, goes into greater detail about specific pieces of art that don’t match the ideologies the administration is wanting. 

Examples from the White House article 

The first piece being debuted in a series by The National Museum of African American History and Culture is a campaign feature by Ibram X. Kendi. This series served to educate people on “a society that privileges white people and whiteness”. The administration believes this is portraying “the nuclear family,” “work ethic,” and “intellect” as white qualities rooted in racism.” 

The second piece is being shown at the American History Museum. It is a pride flag flowing next to the American flag. The pride flag is displayed at other Smithsonian entrances as well. 

The third piece is displayed at the National Portrait Gallery. It features a family of four crossing over the southern border. The administration believes this piece is “commemorating” the act of illegally crossing the border.

The fourth piece at The National Museum of the American Latino is an animation program of Latinas and Latinos with disabilities. It “educates on their identity being Latinx, LGBTQ+, and disabled.”

The fifth piece is also at the National Museum of the American Latino showcasing a banner that says, “What unites Latinas and Latinos?” The answer is the support of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

The sixth piece, commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, is a stop-motion animation of Anthony Fauci, which highlights his career. Fauci is a physician-scientist and immunologist who led the response for the U.S when it came to infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19. 

The seventh piece is an exhibit at the American History Museum that shows children on the US-Mexico border looking through an opening of the wall and watching fireworks on Independence Day. The administration does not agree with how this piece can depict migrants looking at fireworks over the wall and how the exhibit says America’s founders “feared non-white immigration.”

The eighth piece is also at the American History Museum. This exhibit that the Statue of Liberty “holding a tomato in her right hand instead of a torch, and a basket of tomatoes in her left hand instead of a tablet.”

The ninth piece is another from the National Museum of the American Latino. It is a woman with her hair up, and in the middle of her hair are the words, “My Dreams Are Not Illegal.” The administration stated the museum is featuring “an anti-American exhibit that defines Latino history as centuries of victimhood and exploitation, suggests the U.S. is stolen land, and characterizes U.S. history as rooted in ‘colonization.’” 

Lastly, the tenth piece is from the National Portrait Gallery of a “painting depicting a transgender Statue of Liberty”. This piece was going to be displayed, but artist Amy Sherald canceled the show, citing censorship. 

The White House article lists other pieces of art without their photos and explains how the Trump Whitehouse believes they go against Americanism. Some have listed why these pieces are under review and some do not. Are they taking away freedoms when they are de-stigmatizing these pieces of art?

Park University’s Art Director, Dr. Andrea Lee, believes this could cause issues not only within museums but also in the classroom.

Lee is a studio artist who holds a doctorate in art history. She teaches the painting classes and senior seminar classes at Park University, along with putting together the art exhibits at Park University. 

 “There’s a lot of worry and concern, not just about the particular exhibits, but for the federal government to basically usurp the decades-long research and careful consideration by scholars and experts that are in that field,” she said about the work of the Trump administration and who could be affected. “I believe that it could go down a very dark road.”

With her background in art history, Lee explained that there have been times in history where the government has tried to weigh in on the arts and it has not gone so well. She believes this is an issue that could be worrisome. “It’s not just art — or the visual arts; it’s history itself,” she said.

Dr. Lee has not had a discussion with her students about this topic but believes with how “enthusiastic they are about the art’s and how they would look at this with a critical eye and critical perspective they could be concerned.”

Lee added, “These institutions are not only respected and highly regarded throughout the world, but those institutions are ones teachers and educators share to their students. They are researched, and they can rely on that information. What are the consequences if we inaccurately portray history with the lens of a particular political ideology? If that information becomes skewed or inaccurate or censored, then what are we teaching our children?”

She also added that she is not surprised by the decision of the Trump administration. “But I’m very disappointed, alarmed, and concerned,” she said, adding that she believes “…the museum administrators and those who are in the position of defending works like that make a very good argument that we shouldn’t censor work like this. We should let the viewers decide. Maybe the work is upsetting. Maybe the work is inspiring. They can make their own meaning out of it.”