Donald Trump Orders Warning Signs Outside The Smithsonian Over Historical Framing

President Donald Trump has ordered the installation of warning signs at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to alert visitors about what he thinks are inaccurate depictions of American history.

In a move that reflects his ill-fated attempt to rename and install new signage at the Kennedy Center, Trump signed an executive order Friday directing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to erect warnings along National Park Service-controlled sidewalks and walkways leading to the museum. Without providing exact wording, Trump’s order indicates that the new signs should inform visitors of White House objections and direct people “to locations and resources for accurate information regarding America’s history.”

The order followed this week’s congressional hearings in which Anthea M. Hartig, director of the museum, was grilled by Republican legislators about the Smithsonian’s framing of the country’s history as, in the words of right-wing professor Matthew Spalding, “national self-loathing.”

Hartig took issue with the line of questioning during the hearings, stating at one point, “When historians talk about reframing a traditional narrative, we don’t mean erasing it. We mean adding the evidence, the voices, the objects that earlier tellings left out so that more Americans can see themselves reflected in the national story.”

Earlier this month, Trump’s Domestic Policy Council released a report accusing the Smithsonian and its National Museum of American History of presenting history that is not “inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic.”

Since Trump lacks the authority to order direct changes to the Smithsonian’s exhibits, his executive order on Friday targeted the outdoor sidewalks maintained by the National Park Service. No timetable yet on the signage installation.