The White House informed Tuesday the institution which oversees the great museums of Washington that a thorough exam was to be carried out. Objective: to check their alignment with the vision of America defended by Donald Trump.
This examination, justified by the festivities around the 250th anniversary of the United States next year, according to the mail that the White House published on its website, will focus on exhibitions, texts, conservation or the programming of eight museums from the capital managed by the Smithsonian Institution.
‘This initiative aims to guarantee the alignment with the directive of the president to celebrate the exceptional character of America, to suppress divisive or partisan speeches and to restore confidence in our cultural institutions’, we can read in the missive.
The White House refers to a decree signed in March aimed at regaining control of the contents of the museums of the Smithsonian, accused of ‘historical revisionism’ by Donald Trump and of having led during the decade of an ‘racial ideological indoctrination.
The stake of history
‘In this spirit and in accordance with the decree’ aimed at ‘restoring truth and reason in American history, we will conduct an in -depth internal examination’, added the letter dated Tuesday.
The establishments concerned are the Museum of American History, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of African-American History and Culture, the Museum of American Indians, the Air and Espace Museum, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, the National Portrait Gallery and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
In the ‘120 days’, either by the beginning of 2026, ‘Museums should start implementing corrections when necessary,’ anticipates the administration, in particular ‘by replacing the cleansing or ideological remarks with descriptions which bring together, which are historically exact and constructive’.
Contacted by AFP, the Smithsonian did not react immediately.
/ATS