Trump decrees the end of 'woke' in national museums and will subject them to review

Donald Trump criticized the country's main museums' "woke" approach on Tuesday. The president set his sights on the Smithsonian Institution, an organization that operates thanks to state funding and manages 17 museums, galleries, and a zoo across the country and that has been accused of promoting a left-wing ideology. 

“The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where all that's discussed is how terrible our country is, how bad slavery was, and how little the oppressed have achieved. Nothing about success, nothing about brilliance, nothing about the future,” Trump wrote.

"Museums throughout Washington, and across the country, are essentially the last bastion left of the 'WOKE'", the head of state's post on his Truth Social network states. 

Museums teach about queer culture. 

In recent years, the consortium of museums under Smithsonian control has offered exhibitions and programming that organizers say aim to "celebrate diversity." Consequently, its schedule of cultural activities has focused on events that highlight the history of women, people of color, and queer culture.

Last week, the White House published a letter on its website stating that it plans to thoroughly review the teaching content of eight national museums as part of an effort to "celebrate American exceptionalism" and "eliminate divisive or partisan narratives."

The letter notes that it will scrutinize institutions such as the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the National Museum of the American Indian, all under the administrative control of the Smithsonian. 

Trump seeks to eliminate left-wing ideology in cultural institutions. 

According to Lonnie Bunch III, who is the first African American to lead the Smithsonian and has held the position since 2019, the United States can't be understood without slavery. "Our notions of freedom, our notions of rights are intertwined with our notions of slavery," he said in a television interview in 2021, during the Biden era. 

Last week, the White House sent a letter to Bunch notifying him that the museum would be subject to a review to ensure it is aligned with the presidential directive. The decree that Trump signed in March cites numerous exhibitions approved by Bunch where American and Western values are portrayed as "inherently harmful and oppressive."

For Trump, it is absolutely crucial to eliminate partisan narratives that may cause division among Americans and restore trust in cultural institutions, eradicating left-wing ideology from the federal government at its root.