Cultural war in the United States
Trump puts pressure on museums to advocate his vision of America
The White House intends to examine the content of eight major Washington museums to ensure their “alignment” with the president’s vision.
Donald Trump accused the museums of the Smithsonian of “historical revisionism”.
AFP
The White house announced Tuesday to the institution which manages the main museums of Washington that the American administration was going to carry out an in -depth examination to ensure their “alignment” with the vision of America advocated by Donald Trumpfounded according to her mail on “truth and reason”.
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 relate to exhibitions, texts, conservation or even the programming of eight museums from the capital managed by the Smithsonian Institution.
“This initiative aims to guarantee the alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate the exceptional character of America, to suppress divisive or partisan speeches and to restore confidence in our cultural institutions,” read in the missive.
Museums accused of “historical revisionism”
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 a racial “ideological indoctrination” during the decade “.
“In this spirit and in accordance with the decree” aimed at “restoring the truth and reason in American history, we will conduct an in -depth internal exam”, added the letter dated Tuesday.
The establishments concerned are the Museum of American History, the Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African-American History and Culture (NMAAHC), the Museum of American Indians, the Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, the National Portrait Gallery and the Hirshhorn Museum and Garden Sculpture.
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”.
The Smithsonian Institution will continue its work
The Smithsonian institution “reviews the letter” of the White House, she said in a press release, adding that it was going to continue its work “based on a deep commitment of academic excellence, rigorous research and the reliable and factual representation of history.”
At the beginning of August, the Washington Post reported that the American History Museum had withdrawn from an exhibition hall any reference to the two procedures for dismissing the American president. The museum later assured that this temporary reference had been withdrawn without any request from above.
Donald Trump’s conservative government has embarked on a vast recovery of cultural institutions on which it has influence, from museums to universities, in order to expurge them from what it considers to be progressive ideas, which highlight and support minorities.
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