WASHINGTON − He’s renamed a body of water and a mountain. He put himself at the top of the Kennedy Center. Now, President Donald Trump wants to put his stamp on the Smithsonian Institution and make its museums less “woke.”
"The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been," Trump said in a recent social media post.
The Smithsonian oversees 21 museums and libraries, the National Zoo as well as research and education centers around the country.
In March, Trump signed an executive order focused on how history is presented. Then in August, the administration announced a review of the Smithsonian, starting with eight of its most-visited and high-profile museums and released a list of exhibits it took issue with.
Many focus on race, sexuality and immigration. One was an animated portrait of Anthony Fauci, the former National Institutes of Health official who became a frequent target of Trump. A number of the exhibits flagged by the White House are no longer or never were put on display or were only posted online.
