President Trump on Tuesday said he intends to expand his crusade against what he calls \u201cwoke\u201d ideology from the Smithsonian Institution to museums across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of \u2018WOKE,\u2019\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that the Smithsonian is \u201cout of control,\u201d and that everything featured in its exhibits discuss, \u201chow horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been \u2014 Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future.\u201d<\/p>\n
To prevent more of the same in other institutions, Trump said he has instructed his attorneys \u201cto go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities where tremendous progress has been made.\u201d<\/p>\n
Contacted for comment, a White House representative said, \u201cPresident Trump will explore all options and avenues to get the Woke out of the Smithsonian and hold them accountable. He will start with the Smithsonian and then go from there.\u201d <\/p>\n
They did not respond to a request for clarification about how the administration intends to vet the content of exhibits at other museums, or whether or not the president intends to issue an executive order with details on a plan.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s concern about the Smithsonian first became public in late March when he issued an executive order<\/a> titled \u201cRestoring Truth and Sanity to American History,\u201d which directed Vice President JD Vance to remove \u201cimproper ideology\u201d from the Smithsonian\u2019s 21 museums and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n Two months later, Trump exerted even greater control when he said he\u2019d fired Kim Sajet<\/a>, the longtime director of the Smithsonian\u2019s National Portrait Gallery, for being \u201ca highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI.\u201d It soon became apparent that it wasn\u2019t in Trump\u2019s power to do so and Sajet continued to work.<\/p>\n In early June the Smithsonian rejected Trump\u2019s attempt to fire Sajet<\/a> after a lengthy Board of Regents meeting. The Regents issued a statement that the organization\u2019s secretary, Lonnie G. Bunch, \u201chas the support of the Board of Regents in his authority and management of the Smithsonian.\u201d It was implied that Bunch would be the one making personnel decisions, not Trump.<\/p>\n Still, the statement opened the door to the idea that the Smithsonian might make changes that would appease Trump\u2019s criticism.<\/p>\n \u201cTo reinforce our nonpartisan stature, the Board of Regents has directed the Secretary to articulate specific expectations to museum directors and staff regarding content in Smithsonian museums, give directors reasonable time to make any needed changes to ensure unbiased content, and to report back to the Board on progress and any needed personnel changes based on success or lack thereof in making the needed changes,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n