Left to their own devices, the radical left will infect everything it touches with wokeism, something the Trump administration further exposed early on in its second term by, for example, taking a closer look at where USAID’s taxpayer money was going.
And there was plenty more where that came from, as Legal Insurrection extensively documented:
Another way the anti-Americanism is coming under the federal microscope is by way of an Executive Order issued by President Trump in March 2025 on “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” where it was noted that “museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history.”
In a section on “Saving Our Smithsonian,” here is what was put in place:
The Vice President, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Associate Staff Secretary, Lindsey Halligan, Esq., shall work to effectuate the policies of this order through his role on the Smithsonian Board of Regents with respect to the Smithsonian Institution and its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo, including by seeking to remove improper ideology from such properties, and shall recommend to the President any additional actions necessary to fully effectuate such policies.
A few months later, Trump ordered a comprehensive review of all Smithsonian museums ahead of America 250 festivities.
On July 4th, the White House’s Domestic Policy Council issued a detailed, 162-page PDF report documenting the wokeification of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (NMAH). They held nothing back.
“A sweeping new White House report concluded that the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History (NMAH) has become a taxpayer-backed institution of ‘ideological capture’ and ‘extreme political activism.'”https://t.co/foAsSoPoaB
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) July 6, 2026
Here were their key findings:
- NMAH Fails to Substantively Present America’s Founders and Founding
- NMAH Has “Problematized” the 250th Anniversary of America’s Founding
- NMAH Removed “American History” from Its Mission Statement to “Get Out of the ‘America First’ Mentality”
- NMAH Has Abandoned Historical Scholarship for Political Activism
New report outlines the deep ideological capture of the Smithsonian in DC.
Politicizing American history to weaponize it in service of leftist activism. Not surprised they did this, but good to see it getting exposed. https://t.co/2yav7hlsN1 pic.twitter.com/Q7yJ6fthiq
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) July 8, 2026
They also accused them of “anti-white,” “illegal alien,” and “transgender activism,” and concluded there had been “ideological capture at the museum.”
The serious concerns raised in this report are not about a few exhibits or a few controversial labels. They concern whether America’s premier history museum still presents America as a coherent nation and heritage worth teaching with gratitude and honesty. The Museum can broaden the story without dissolving the story. It can and should acknowledge slavery, injustice, mistreatment of Native peoples, and other grave wrongs without encouraging citizens to view their country mainly through suspicion, resentment, and division. But that is not what the National Museum of American History is doing. As it stands today, it would benefit most Americans, especially parents bringing their children for a tour, if the Smithsonian’s flagship history museum had a label at every entrance that reads: “Warning: the exhibits in this museum were prepared by people who don’t want you to love your country.”
The findings of this report matter beyond the museum world. Not all Americans follow academic theories or curatorial fashions, but they do understand when a revered public institution has traded settled truths and basic history for political activism and division. They do notice when the heroes, principles, and events that formed the country are pushed to the margins. They notice when their children are introduced to inappropriate sexual and ideological content under the guise of civic education. And they object when their children and grandchildren are being indoctrinated to regard their country primarily as a source of oppression and unresolved grievance.
The Rapid Response X account shared some of the other findings from the report:
