# Trump gunning for the Smithsonian **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [March 28, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262 "2025-03-28T16:34:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/1 "2025-03-28T16:34:53Z")
I am breaking out my post in the Kennedy Center thread into a new thread: > [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Can Trump execute a similar takeover of the Smithsonian, with subsequent closing of woke museums like the Museum of African American History and Culture and the Museum of the American Indian, the whitewashing of the Museum of American History, and having the Air and Space Museum change exhibits to show that Trump invented the airplane, broke the sound barrier, and walked on the moon? It has started: > **[Trump executive order on Smithsonian targets funding for programs with...](https://apnews.com/article/trump-smithsonian-executive-order-improper-ideology-558ebfab722f603e94e02a1a4b06ed4d)** > > President Donald Trump has signed an executive order on the Smithsonian Institution that targets funding to programs that contain what he calls “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology.” ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/2 "2025-03-28T16:45:28Z")
~~Trump viewing his model for the Trumpsonian~~ Hitler viewing his model for the Führermuseum [![](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitler-bunker-model-linz-fuhrer-museum-1945-768x489.jpeg) ](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitler-bunker-model-linz-fuhrer-museum-1945-768x489.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/3 "2025-03-28T16:50:22Z")
This would be #11 in Lawrence Britt’s **[14 Characteristics of Fascism](https://secularhumanism.org/2003/03/fascism-anyone/)**: > **Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts** > > Intellectuals and the inherent freedom of ideas and expression associated with them were anathema to these regimes. Intellectual and academic freedom were considered subversive to national security and the patriotic ideal. Universities were tightly controlled; politically unreliable faculty harassed or eliminated. Unorthodox ideas or expressions of dissent were strongly attacked, silenced, or crushed. To these regimes, art and literature should serve the national interest or they had no right to exist. What need is there, _really,_ for any of the Smithsonian complex _apart from_ serving Dear Leader via a ginormous gift shop selling nothing but Chinese-made American flags and Trump/MAGA-branded regalia? Yeah. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/4 "2025-03-29T00:25:57Z")
That does it. I’m calling on Leon Musk to defund the Secret Service. ---
**Author:** ![TeroSunbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terosunbear/32/14748_2.png) [@TeroSunbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeroSunbear)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/5 "2025-03-29T12:00:55Z")
I’ll be waiting to see what the Aryan cave man exhibit looks like at the natural history museum. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/6 "2025-03-29T12:10:04Z")
“Improper ideology”? Really?! When is he going to start sporting the little mustache and demanding military parades in his honor? ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/7 "2025-03-29T14:59:41Z")
He did want military parades in his first term but was somehow talked out of it. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/8 "2025-03-29T16:24:34Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts It’s not _just_ suppression of arts and intellectualism, it’s blatant pushing for a white power agenda, a literal attempt at a whitewashing of history. There’s a key sentence in trump’s Orwellian-titled “ [RESTORING TRUTH AND SANITY TO AMERICAN HISTORY](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/)” that complains of a certain exhibit in the Smithsonian: > The exhibit further claims that “sculpture has been a powerful tool in promoting scientific racism” and promotes the view that race is not a biological reality but a social construct, stating “Race is a human invention.” Race is very much a social construct, and very much not a biological reality. I can’t believe in the 21st century we are even still using the word ‘race’ at all to refer to different ethnicities of the one human race. Let alone trying to re-institutionalize the idea of different races. I expect a trump exec order any day restoring the rule of a Black person counting as 3/5 of a white person. Probably for Hispanics and other non lily-white ‘races’ as well. > **[Opinion | How Trump’s embrace of race science makes his Smithsonian EO so...](https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/-trump-smithsonian-museum-executive-order-race-rcna198533)** > > The threat to museums such as The National Museum of African-American History and Culture is real. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/9 "2025-03-29T19:37:53Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I expect a trump exec order any day restoring the rule of a Black person counting as 3/5 of a white person. Probably for Hispanics and other non lily-white ‘races’ as well. Since I am half white do I get to be 4/5? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/10 "2025-03-29T20:23:04Z")
Don’t ask me, ask Stephen Miller 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/11 "2025-03-29T20:27:40Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Since I am half white do I get to be 4/5? According to the [One Drop Rule](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-drop_rule), you’re either “white” or not. America has historically been intolerant even by racist standards. And will be again, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/12 "2025-03-30T03:54:24Z")
> [@solost](#): > > There’s a key sentence in trump’s Orwellian-titled “ [RESTORING TRUTH AND SANITY TO AMERICAN HISTORY](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/) I’m betting that their version of history is somehow whiter than even their past attempts at whitewashing it. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/13 "2025-03-30T17:40:28Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > He did want military parades in his first term but was somehow talked out of it. He’ll probably get one under the guise of a “Semidemimillennial, Sesquibicentennial, semiquincentennial, whatever the word for 250th anniversary is this year” parade in DC on July 4, 2026. He’s also probably busy making sure that the next manned moon landing takes place during his term, so he can put a plaque with his signature on the lander, the way Nixon has his on the part of Apollo 11 that’s still on the moon. Now there’s something he can add to the Air & Space Museum. I will say one thing: for someone who is against DEI, he doesn’t seem to have a problem with their being a American Women’s History Museum as part of the Smithsonian. In fact, a recent executive order includes, “The Vice President and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall work with the Congress to ensure that future appropriations to the Smithsonian Institution: (…) celebrate the achievements of women in the American Women’s History Museum.” (The point there being, it continues with, “and do not recognize men as women in any respect in the Museum.”) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/14 "2025-03-30T17:52:10Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > He’s also probably busy making sure that the next manned moon landing takes place during his term, so he can put a plaque with his signature on the lander, the way Nixon has his on the part of Apollo 11 that’s still on the moon. Now there’s something he can add to the Air & Space Museum. “The White Stuff”…? ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/15 "2025-03-30T22:15:22Z")
> [@solost](#): > > “The White Stuff”…? Okay, that made me laugh through my tears, so thank you for that. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/16 "2025-03-31T12:18:55Z")
Gotta laugh to keep from crying 😏 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/17 "2025-04-05T16:22:15Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > “Improper ideology”? Really?! When is he going to start sporting the little mustache and demanding military parades in his honor? Somebody get a sharpie, stat. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/18 "2025-04-05T16:26:50Z")
Don’t feel bad, Trump is screwing everyone. He’s an equal opportunity fuck up. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/19 "2025-04-05T18:20:31Z")
I expect a wing to be built just for the Golden Escalator. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2025, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262/20 "2025-08-13T17:48:26Z")
Next phase underway: > **[White House orders review of Smithsonian exhibits to ensure alignment with...](https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/12/politics/smithsonian-exhibits-white-house-review)** > > The White House is conducting a comprehensive internal review of exhibits and materials at the Smithsonian Institution in an effort to comply with President Donald Trump’s directive about what should and shouldn’t be displayed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-gunning-for-the-smithsonian/1016262.md?page=2)