President Donald Trump continued his criticism of the Smithsonian Institution on Tuesday, saying it is “OUT OF CONTROL” and “the last remaining segment of ‘WOKE.’”
Trump’s post on Truth Social reignited a debate over his administration’s approach to diversity initiatives at American institutions.
Trump’s effort
Trump shared his message online Tuesday afternoon, saying that museums in Washington, D.C., and across the country were too “WOKE” and needed to change.
“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 — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future,” Trump wrote.
Trump said he will not let it happen and has instructed attorneys to go through museums and start the same process that has been underway at universities, “where tremendous progress has been made,” to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
“This Country cannot be WOKE, because WOKE IS BROKE,” he wrote. “We have the ‘HOTTEST’ Country in the World, and we want people to talk about it, including in our museums.”
The post comes months after the Trump administration sought to ban DEI in institutions across the country. The Education Department has threatened to pull funding from schools that keep the programs in place, forcing colleges and universities to change campus culture ahead of the school year.
In March, Trump signed an executive order directing Vice President JD Vance and Interior Department Secretary Doug Burgum to remove “improper ideology” from the Smithsonian institutions.
Trump’s supporters have celebrated the change and his post Tuesday. One of them being columnist Bethany Mandel, who wrote an op-ed in Fox News in early July about the Smithsonian museums in Washington not having the right focus.
Her op-ed was shared on X Tuesday by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Titled, “Why are major museums pushing climate change instead of celebrating the spirit of America?,” Mandel says exhibits at the Smithsonian museums include “ideological hectoring,” in the way they frame issues like climate change and DEI. Mandel questioned why American tax dollars are funding what she describes as an underlying progressive narrative at the museums in Washington.
“With more than 30 million visitors expected to descend on Washington, D.C. for the nation’s Semiquincentennial next year, the clock is ticking,” she wrote. “If nothing changes, they’ll walk into the Museum of American History and leave not with a celebration of our founding — but a guilt trip.”
Critics weigh in
After Trump shared his post Tuesday, critics weighed in on the message, particularly highlighting the part that said the Smithsonian institutions discussed “how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was.”
Political historian Leah Wright Rigueur joined CNN on Tuesday after Trump’s post, where she argued the president’s message is less about highlighting American triumph, but more about controlling the narrative and certain stories that the Smithsonian’s 24 million annual visitors will see.
“I do have to ask, I really wonder, has the President of the United States actually visited any of the Smithsonian exhibits or museums, you know, I think I’m pretty sure the answer to that is no, he hasn’t,” she said. “Because if he had, he would actually see a very deep and complex and nuanced story about America. The good, the bad, the ugly, but also a story of resilience that is really about the very best of America when faced with the very worst of our country.”
Wright Rigueur said the African American History Museum does not solely focus on slavery, which she said is viewed objectively as bad, but it also celebrates Black success, including the stories of former Housing and Development Secretary Ben Carson and former President Barack Obama.
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich also weighed in on X with a post, insinuating Trump is trying to rewrite history.
“Trump is attacking the Smithsonian museum, saying there’s too much focus on ‘how bad slavery was,’” Reich wrote. “Authoritarians know that if they can convince us our country has never been wrong, they can make us believe our ruler is always right. Be warned.”