The order does answer Philadelphia’s plea for federal funding to restore Independence Hall in time for the nation’s 250th anniversary next year. It says that historical sites should remind Americans “of our our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, an... See more

“They are not interested in empty cheerleading,” she said. “They want to know about the fellow human beings, with all their strengths and all their complications, with all their flaws, with all their infinite variety, who shaped the past, and in so doing also shape our present.”

And it takes specific aim at one of the newest additions to the Smithsonian’s portfolio of 21 museums — the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in 2016 under the leadership of historian Lonnie G. Bunch III, who the became the Smithsonian’s 14th and first African American secretary in 2019.

Trump’s order cited examples of exhibits he says portray American and Western values as “inherently harmful and oppressive.” It also prohibits any transgender women from being included in the forthcoming American Women’s History Museum, which currently exists as an online exhibit and estimates construction could be more than 10 years away.