Trump admin preparing to display signage in front of Smithsonian museum warning of ideological bias

The Trump administration is reportedly preparing signs that will accuse the National Museum of American History of ideological capture, following an executive order from President Donald Trump over the summer.

According to a Sept. 3 letter from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum recently obtained by The Atlantic, the National Park Service is preparing to display about a dozen signs, which will cost an estimated $84,000.

Americans should enter the museum “with relevant information about the curators’ interpretation of history and their stated goal of changing the viewpoints of visitors,” the letter read, arguing the museum leadership has instead “altered the museum’s role from accurately and coherently telling America’s story to using the museum as a tool to advance personal, radical ideologies.”

Burgum’s letter was in response to questions from Sens. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, and Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican. In August, the pair, who lead the Senate appropriations subcommittee that has jurisdiction over both the Interior Department and the Smithsonian, asked Burgum to spell out the “scope, cost, funding source and timeline” for the signs that Trump ordered.

The Interior Department did not respond to multiple requests from Heartlander News for comment on the signs.

A months-long saga

In a July 2026 executive order aimed at “restoring sanity” to the Smithsonian, Trump directed the Interior Department to install temporary signage to warn visitors about “the ideological capture” at the Museum of American History. The signs are intended to inform visitors about the findings of an extensive White House report that found that the museum uses taxpayer dollars for programming that shares U.S. history through a biased political agenda.

“During this 250th anniversary year of our heroic founding, the least our citizens are owed is an honest and inspiring account of American history,” Vince Haley, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, said in a statement to Heartlander News when asked about the signs. He added that the council hopes and expects the Smithsonian to “eventually rise once again to that noble obligation – to tell America’s story for our children, the world, and future generations of Americans.”

The Domestic Policy Council report stemmed from a March 2025 executive order in which Trump first accused the Smithsonian of portraying a “distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”

Heartlander News’ own review of the Smithsonian last year found a number of overtly political displays, including signage suggesting that using white marble for sculptures is a form of white supremacy.

New York branch under fire

The D.C. branches of the Smithsonian aren’t the only ones under scrutiny. The Manhattan branch of the National Museum of the American Indian gives a critical account of America’s founding, a recent Fox News Digital review reported. In one display, George Washington is called a “town destroyer.” The museum also downplays violence between Native American tribes while placing disproportionate emphasis on negativity surrounding the American colonists, calling them trespassers and squatters.

Heartlander News reached out to the Manhattan branch of the museum for comment but did not receive a reply prior to publication.