Trump orders warning signs outside Smithsonian history museum

US President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for temporary signs outside The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington to warn visitors about what the order describes as inaccurate historical information inside the museum.

The order directs federal officials to place signs on public walkways outside the building telling visitors that the museum's exhibits should be renovated to reflect accurate information about United States history.

The move follows testimony this week by Anthea Hartig, the historian and director of the National Museum of American History, before a US House subcommittee. Hartig described items in the museum's collections, including the desk on which Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln's top hat from the night he was assassinated, the Greensboro lunch counter and gowns worn by first ladies.

At the hearing, Republican congressman Tim Burchett said he believed the Smithsonian had become shaped by what he called a woke ideology that emphasized American oppression. Democratic congresswoman Melanie Stansbury criticized the Trump administration's approach, saying it was trying to interfere with how American history is told, researched, interpreted, presented and taught in the Smithsonian, schools, universities and across the federal government.

The executive order cites a 162-page White House report from March that accused the Smithsonian of failing to emphasize what the report called the constructive role of Christian belief. The report also said white, male and Christian Americans were regularly denigrated as symbols of oppressive power structures.

Hartig told lawmakers that the museum was reviewing the White House report but said it did not fairly or accurately describe the museum's full body of work.

The Smithsonian Institution was founded nearly two centuries ago and has 21 museums, many focused on US history, culture and art. Trump has taken other actions involving cultural institutions and monuments, including firing National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet in May 2025 after calling her highly partisan, criticizing the Smithsonian last August, and ordering changes at the Kennedy Center. His name was placed on the Kennedy Center building before a court order forced its removal in June.