President Donald Trump has pursued a sequence of measures aimed at reshaping how American history and culture are presented by major national institutions. Since his return to the White House, the administration has moved to revise exhibits, reinstall contested monuments and alter governing boards and leadership positions in institutions that serve as public interpreters of the nation's past.
The administration frames many of these actions as responses to what it calls the spread of "anti-American ideology." Critics, including leading civil rights organizations, contend the measures risk reversing long-standing efforts to acknowledge slavery, the mistreatment of Native Americans and other difficult aspects of U.S. history.
March 2025 executive order targets ideology and historical framing
Just weeks after taking office, President Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 instructing federal officials to identify and remove what his administration described as "anti-American ideology" from the Smithsonian Institution. The order also directed the Interior Department to restore federal parks, monuments and memorials that the administration said had been "removed or changed in the last years to perpetuate a false revision of history."
The Smithsonian - a sprawling museum and research complex that spans 21 museums and galleries plus the National Zoo - receives the bulk of its funding from Congress but operates with institutional independence in its decision-making. The White House launched an internal review of certain Smithsonian museums, specifying an assessment of the tone and historical framing of exhibition text, websites, educational materials and digital content. The Smithsonian indicated it would participate in the review and engage "constructively."
Public remarks on slavery and civil rights
The president has made public comments that commentators and civil rights groups say align with his administration's institutional directives. Last August, he posted on social media that there was an excessive focus on "how bad slavery was." In a recent interview with the New York Times, when questioned about policies that followed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he said civil rights protections hurt white people.
Those remarks prompted responses from civil rights organizations. The NAACP said the statements were laying groundwork to roll back social progress. Black Lives Matter said the president's comments signaled an intent to deny the atrocities of slavery.
National parks, signage and exhibit changes
Following the March 2025 executive order, the Interior Department announced a review of interpretive signage across the National Park System. Interpretive signs are the plaques and panels meant to explain historical sites and events to visitors.
On January 22, staff from the U.S. National Park Service removed a slavery exhibit from a Philadelphia historic site where George Washington once lived. That exhibit included a reference to Washington's ownership of enslaved people. Media reporting has indicated that U.S. officials ordered national parks to remove dozens of signs and displays related to slavery and to the mistreatment of Native Americans by settlers.
In another change reported by park authorities, the National Park Service said last August it would reinstall a statue of Confederate General Albert Pike that had been toppled and vandalized in 2020 during racial justice protests following George Floyd's murder. Civil rights organizations argue such restorations and removals undermine public acknowledgment of critical phases of American history.
"Stripping enslaved peoples stories from museum exhibits, monuments, and digital archives is not neutrality - it is erasure," said the NAACP in response to these developments.
Pressure on the Smithsonian
The White House has publicly criticized the Smithsonian, saying it should be subject to the same processes as colleges and universities whose funding came under threat when policies were found to displease the administration. The internal review ordered by the White House targeted the framing and tone of historical content across Smithsonian venues and related digital materials.
The Smithsonian said it would engage with the review process. The public exchange underscored the administration's broader focus on the presentation of historical narratives in federally associated cultural institutions.
Kennedy Center leadership changes and renaming
President Trump moved to assert control over the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by naming himself chairman and appointing allies to its board. In December, the board voted to rename the institution the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. The president had previously criticized the Kennedy Center as too liberal.
The board's decision prompted withdrawals by many groups and artists who cited the takeover. Congressional Democrats noted that the center's established name is set by statute and said the board's rebranding lacks legal force. Members of John F. Kennedy's family denounced the renaming as an act that undermined the slain president's legacy.
Changes at other agencies, cultural bodies and international relationships
Inside other federal agencies, the administration has enacted changes affecting cultural displays and leadership. In April, the Environmental Protection Agency said it would close a one-room museum at its headquarters that had chronicled the agency's history, citing cost cuts. In May, the president publicly criticized Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery, calling her partisan; Sajet announced the following month that she would step down.
Late in the year, the White House dismissed several members of the National Council on the Humanities. On the international stage, the administration has withdrawn the United States from dozens of global and U.N. entities, including cultural and refugee agencies, with officials saying those organizations did not benefit Washington.
Reactions and stakes
Civil rights groups have framed the cumulative actions as a coordinated effort to erase or soften public recognition of slavery and the mistreatment of marginalized communities. Administration officials have framed the measures as corrective steps to remove what they describe as ideologically driven reinterpretations of history from federal platforms.
The moves touch several types of institutions that shape public understanding of U.S. history and culture, including museums, federal parks and memorials, performing arts centers, federal agency archives and international cultural engagements. The disputes over exhibits, monuments and institutional governance reflect broader tensions about national identity and the role of public institutions in interpreting historical events.