Trump admin plans to put ideological warning signs around Smithsonian museum

The Trump administration is planning to place a dozen signs warning visitors about what it says are ideological leanings within the Smithsonian Institution, as well as the National Museum of American History in particular. 

In a letter dated Sept. 3, to U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Jeff Merkley — who are top members of the Senate Appropriations Committee — Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote that the administration is requiring a "commitment to transparency" and "academic honesty." 

In line with that requirement, the administration will advise visitors that "the leadership of the Smithsonian and NMAH have 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," NPR reported. 

Burgum said the signs are temporary and will be placed on National Park Service land. The requirements were laid out in President Donald Trump's July executive order "Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution."

The letter points to several examples of what Burgum says are efforts on the part of the Smithsonian leadership to use history exhibits as a vehicle for ideological promotion, including Anthea Hartig, the director of the American History museum, who "stated that history is 'a prime tool of social justice'." 

Burgum said the museum wants "to legitimize illegal immigration and open borders," and several exhibits "present ideological viewpoints inconsistent with biology, including ideologies that sex is not binary."