Trump's comments came days after Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, sent a letter to the Smithsonian—which includes 21 museums, 14 educational centers, and a zoo—ordering officials at eight of its museums to turn over information about exhibits that are being planned to commemorate the United States' 250th anniversary next year.
The officials were given 120 days to adjust the "tone, historical framing, and alignment with American ideals" to match the administration's view of history—which, judging from Trump's comments, doesn't include the history of how Black Americans were impacted by enslavement, despite the fact that Republicans at the party's 2020 national convention claimed credit for abolishing the practice.
"Anyone who thinks there’s ANYTHING GOOD about enslaving human beings has no business running ANY country… much less the world's most influential democracy," said U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) in response to Trump's comments.
The White House also pushed the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History this month to remove references to the president's two impeachment trials—once for pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political opponents and once for inciting his followers to attack the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
"Anyone who thinks there's ANYTHING GOOD about enslaving human beings has no business running ANY country… much less the world's most influential democracy."
In May, NBC News reported that after Trump issued his executive order demanding the Smithsonian take down exhibits that he claimed "divide Americans based on race," officials removed at least 32 artifacts from the National Museum of African American History and Culture, including a hymn book owned by Harriet Tubman, a former slave who later fought for the abolishment of the institution.
The White House told NBC News Tuesday that Trump plans to hold the Smithsonian "accountable" and "then go from there," expanding his review of museums to other institutions.
In his post at Truth Social Tuesday, Trump said his attorneys will "go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities where tremendous progress has been made"—a reference to the pressure the White House has placed on universities including Columbia and Harvard to suppress academic freedom and curb free speech.
The administration has pushed some schools to end diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives while coercing hundreds of millions of dollars in settlement payments.
Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley told The New York Times Tuesday that it was "the epitome of dumbness to criticize the Smithsonian for dealing with the reality of slavery in America."
"It's what led to our Civil War and is a defining aspect of our national history," said Brinkley. "And the Smithsonian deals in a robust way with what slavery was, but it also deals with human rights and civil rights in equal abundance."
Cornell William Brooks, a professor at Harvard, warned that "the SAME propaganda that said slavery wasn't so bad allowed people to feel so good about lynchings they mailed thousands of postcards" showing people who were lynched at public gatherings.
"My enslaved ancestors were kidnapped to South Carolina and subsequently beaten, raped, and humiliated," said Brooks. "'Brightness' is IN the history. Read the slavery narratives, talk to some Black people, OR just visit our powerful Smithsonian museums."
