Trump's Trials - Trump orders 'restoring' American history through Smithsonian overhaul

Episode Date: March 28, 2025

The "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History" order removes "divisive, race-centered ideology" from Smithsonian museums, educational and research centers, and the National Zoo. Support NPR and hear every episode sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's Trump's Terms from NPR. I'm Scott Detrick. We're going to be doing all sorts of things nobody ever thought was even possible. It's going to be a very aggressive first hundred days of the new Congress. An unpredictable, transformative next four years. The United States is going to take off like a rocket ship. Each episode, we bring you NPR's coverage of President Trump acting on his own terms. And that means sometimes doing things that no American president has tried before. NPR is covering it all in stories like the one you are about to hear right after this.

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These are not conspiracy theories. These are reality. I spent the year following him down the rabbit hole, trying to get him back. Listen to Alternate Realities on the embedded podcast from NPR, all episodes available now. I'm Michelle Martin. President Trump signed an executive order yesterday directing Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate, quote, divisive race centered ideology, unquote, from the Smithsonian Institution Educational and Research Centers and the National Zoo. NPR's Chloe Veltman says the order blames the Biden administration for seeking to revise what their successors consider historical truth.

In a public talk just last Sunday about the Smithsonian American Art Museum's achievements and upcoming plans, Acting Director Jane Carpenter-Rock said this. Given our location here in the nation's capital with significant levels of federal funding, we are also mindful of the rapid changes swirling around us in the federal government. And we are right now still navigating the impact they will have on the Smithsonian. Now there's a lot more navigating to be done. A show at the American Art Museum, The Shape of Power, Stories of Race, and American Sculpture is specifically called out in President Trump's latest executive

order for promoting, quote, narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive. Among other stipulations, the order seeks to prohibit the Smithsonian from receiving funding for programs and exhibitions that, quote, degrade shared American values and divide Americans based on race, and to restore monuments and statues that have been removed from public spaces in recent years in response to growing calls to address racial injustice and the legacy of slavery. This is the latest in a series of recent White House executive orders aimed at rolling back diversity efforts. The Smithsonian Institution closed its diversity office in January. NPR reached out to the Smithsonian, several board members and members of the museum and academic

communities for comment, but received no immediate responses. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. And before we wrap up, a thank you to our NPR Plus supporters who hear each show without sponsored messages and of, who help protect independent journalism. If you are not a supporter yet, you can visit plus.npr.org to find out how you can get a ton of podcast perks across dozens of NPR shows, like bonus episodes, exclusive merchandise, and more. Again, that's plus.npr.org.

I'm Scott Detro. Thanks for listening to Trump's Terms from NPR. not on the important, but the stupid, which features stories about people smuggling animals in their pants and competent criminals in ridiculous science studies. And call it, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, because the good names were taken. Listen to NVR's, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Yes, that is what it is called, wherever you get your podcasts.

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