Living in 1984
The headline tonight reads, “White House to Vet Smithsonian Museums to Fit Trump’s Historical Vision.” It’s in The Wall Street Journal, not exactly a bastion of liberal views. “Top White House officials will scrutinize exhibitions, internal processes, collections and artist grants ahead of America’s 250th anniversary.”
Why? The Journal answers that question in the opening paragraph: “The White House plans to conduct a far-reaching review of Smithsonian museum exhibitions, materials and operations ahead of America’s 250th anniversary to ensure the museums align with President Trump’s interpretation of American history.”
Trump’s interpretation of American history? The man isn’t exactly a scholar.
During his first term in office, at a breakfast celebrating Black History Month in 2017, Trump said: “Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice.” Douglass, the famous abolitionist, died in 1895. At the time he made that comment, Trump seemed more enthusiastic about our national museums than he does today. He led into the comment by saying, “I am very proud now that we have a museum on the National Mall where people can learn about Reverend King, so many other things.”
Perhaps this gaffe explains Trump’s subsequent antipathy to celebrating Black History Month. But he’s not someone who should be defining our history.
In 2009, Trump purchased a Virginia Golf Club. Its beautiful location on the Potomac River wasn’t enough for him—he needed it to have some historical importance. So he, or someone working for him, made it up. He put up a plaque claiming, “Many great American soldiers, both of the North and South, died at this spot…The casualties were so great that the water would turn red and thus became known as ‘The River of Blood.’ ” According to multiple experts, nothing of the sort ever happened there.
The New York Times reports that when Trump was confronted with the lie, he said, “How would they know that? Were they there?” Trump is clearly not the man to entrust with the telling of our national history. “Write your story the way you want to write it,” Trump told reporters who pressed him for any evidence to support the supposed history he attributed to the site.
In a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his first term in office, Trump insisted that Canadians burned down the White House during the War of 1812. As every school child knows, it was the British.
And of course, there were Trump’s exaggerated claims about the size of the crowd at his first inauguration.
I could go on. Scrubbing American history to Trump’s liking ahead of our 250th anniversary is a terrible idea. After all, Trump has been caught in thousands of lies; The Washington Post counted 30,573 of them during his first term as president.
The Journal report says museum displays will be scrutinized to ensure they “align with President Trump’s interpretation of American history.” Three top White House officials, including Russell Vought (one of the architects of Project 2025), wrote in a letter to the Smithsonian Institution that the museums’ public-facing exhibition text, online content, internal curatorial processes, exhibition planning, and use of collections and artist grants would be reviewed for consistency with the “unity, progress, and enduring values that define the American story” and Trump’s executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”
“This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions,” the letter continues.
The Smithsonian issued a terse response: “The Smithsonian’s work is grounded in a deep commitment to scholarly excellence, rigorous research, and the accurate, factual presentation of history. We are reviewing the letter with this commitment in mind and will continue to collaborate constructively with the White House, Congress, and our governing Board of Regents.” A previous report from The Journal indicated they had “agreed to conduct a thorough review of all its museum and zoo content to eliminate political influence and bias.” How can a zoo have political bias?
Law firms. Universities. Government agencies. Scientists. Student activists. Inspectors General. The media. Political opponents. Prosecutors.
Now we can add museum curators to the list of people Trump is trying to crush into submission and force into alignment with his worldview. But this one is uniquely dangerous. These are the people who are entrusted with telling the story of our nation’s history and sharing it with future generations.
This would make for a good start if George Orwell was writing 1984 in 2025. The White House letter directs museums to replace “divisive or ideologically driven” language with “unifying, historically accurate” messages for the public viewing their exhibits.
It feels like we’re living in the first chapter of a new 1984.
The museums have 30 days to respond to Trump’s letter. If you have the opportunity to see the eight museums subject to this review, you may want to visit them before mid-September: the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
There is no telling what parts of our history will be excised.
Our museums tell the story of who we are, all of us, through many different lenses. That’s how it should be. Without knowledge of our past, we would be unaware of the balance the Founding Fathers struck in the Constitution to ensure no man could be a king. We would also lack the evidence that great men—even presidents—can fail, as shown by history, including impeachments, two of which bear Donald Trump’s name. We must be able to trust the retelling of our history, because the truth matters and should never be feared. The story of America is our story, not just Donald Trump’s, and maybe his version, least of all.
In a moment when those in power would rather bend the facts—or erase them altogether—truth becomes more than a principle. It’s a safeguard for democracy. Civil Discourse is committed to telling the truth clearly, fully, and without spin. If that matters to you too, I hope you’ll subscribe and be part of a community that refuses to look away.
We’re in this together,
Joyce
Though I live in Kansas City, Washington DC is my first home in the US (born overseas to US diplomats, we lived my first three years away). The memories I have and the years I spent going to Smithsonian museums are formative. Indeed, my husband and I maintained membership for years from away to support the institutions and to share with our children the nation’s incredible wealth of art, history and science. From the oldest ones to the newest, the excitement was always palpable for a day trip on the Mall.
This post literally sends me off to bed with dread and a breaking 💔.
As George Orwell said: “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.” Trump’s effort to erase the American past through his threats to the Smithsonion are on the nose Orwellian. It must be stopped, else his actions control our future. WE are the only ones who should control our future. As such, we must seize back control of the present.