What changed
2026-07-26 02:55 UTC → 2026-07-26 20:23 UTC ·
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On 24 July 2026 President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 24 July 2026 directing the Interior Department and the National Park Service to install temporary warning signs on the sidewalks leading to outside the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. The signs, begun on 25 July, warn that certain exhibits contain “inaccurate” or ideologically driven information and point visitors to resources the administration deems more accurate. The order references a cites the 162‑page White House Domestic Policy Council report titled “Saving America’s Story,” released Story” (released 4 July, July), which accuses the museum of being “ideologically captured” and presenting U.S. history through a politically activist, “social‑justice” lens. It lens and of downplaying the nation’s founding principles. The order also mandates a temporary outdoor exhibit to present that offers alternative narratives. narratives and directs visitors to resources the administration deems more accurate. Smithsonian director Anthea M. Hartig has repeatedly emphasized stressed the museum’s scholarly independence and its operation outside the executive branch, while critics label rejecting the report’s characterizations. Critics view the move a continuation as part of the Trump administration’s broader campaign against what it calls “woke” content in to reshape federal cultural institutions, institutions that it labels “woke,” echoing earlier 2025 similar actions taken in 2025 at the Kennedy Center and other sites. Installation of the signs began on 25 July and remains in place as the dispute over the museum’s interpretive choices continues.