Trump’s week in review: EU trade deal, Smithsonian content probe, mail-in ballots, 55 million visas
Trump orders a review of Smithsonian content
Trump took to his social media site Truth Social on Tuesday to claim that the Smithsonian Institution was "out of control," alleging that the museum entity only focused on "how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been."
"Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future," he continued. "We are not going to allow this to happen, and I have instructed my attorneys to go through the Museums, and start the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities where tremendous progress has been made."
"This Country cannot be WOKE, because WOKE IS BROKE. We have the 'HOTTEST' Country in the World, and we want people to talk about it, including in our Museums."
The Smithsonian is comprised of 21 museums, 14 education and research centers and a zoo, with the majority of its funding derived from Congress and an independent curatorial process.
Historian Peniel Joseph is among the critics of the proposed review of the Smithsonian's content, telling PBS News that the museum complex has always shown American history "in a very balanced way."
"This is reminiscent of the age of McCarthyism, the age of the Cold War years, where speech was suppressed," said Joseph.
"And, certainly, a president should not have the right to do it, because the whole success of the American revolution is that we have no kings. We shouldn't have oligarchs either, even though we do, but we have no kings in the United States of America."
