The Daily Fuckup

President Donald Trump on July 24, 2026, signed an executive order titled "Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution." The White House posted the order the same day on its presidential actions page and said it followed a review by the Domestic Policy Council of the Smithsonian Institution and its National Museum of American History. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/07/restoring-trust-in-the-smithsonian-institution-e061/))

The order does not put the Smithsonian directly under White House control. The Smithsonian is a federally connected institution with its own governance structure, and the order instead directs the secretary of the interior, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, the administrator of General Services, and the assistant to the president for domestic policy to use available authorities to promote the administration’s policy. It also calls for temporary signage on National Park Service-maintained sidewalks and walkways near the museum telling visitors about the report’s findings and directing them to what the order describes as accurate information about American history. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/07/restoring-trust-in-the-smithsonian-institution-e061/))

The text goes further, saying the museum should be renovated in line with the report’s findings and that temporary exhibits or signage should correct information the administration says is inaccurate. In the order’s own language, the White House argues that Smithsonian leadership does not present American history as a shared national inheritance and instead treats it as a vehicle for social justice themes and societal transformation. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/07/restoring-trust-in-the-smithsonian-institution-e061/))

That is the substance of the fight: not just who gets to manage a museum, but who gets to define the story visitors are told when they walk through one. Supporters are likely to cast the order as a needed correction to what the administration sees as bias. Critics are likely to see it as political pressure aimed at curating history from the top down. What is clear from the document itself is narrower and more concrete: the president has ordered federal officials to act, and he has told them to do so in the name of restoring trust in the Smithsonian. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/07/restoring-trust-in-the-smithsonian-institution-e061/))