President Donald Trump signed an executive order July 24, 2026, directing the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service to install signage warning visitors about what the order calls the "ideological capture" of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. The order, titled "Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution," invokes the president's authority under the Constitution and federal law and instructs multiple agencies to use their powers to press for changes at the federally supported institution.
The order builds on Executive Order 14253, which Trump issued March 27, 2025, under the title "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History." Pursuant to that earlier order, the Domestic Policy Council conducted what the new order describes as a months-long review of the Smithsonian and its National Museum of American History. That review produced a report titled "Saving America's Story: How Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage."
According to the order, the report concludes that Smithsonian leadership does not present American history as "a shared national inheritance to be taught and celebrated," but instead treats it as a "prime tool" to advance ideas of social justice and what the order calls the radical transformation of society. The order states the report demonstrates that current leadership of both the Smithsonian and the museum "cannot be trusted to tell America's story with honesty and gratitude." On that basis, the order declares it the policy of the administration to take all available steps to address the report's findings and to restore trust in the institution.
The central operative directive tasks the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the National Park Service and in coordination with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, with installing temporary signage along NPS-maintained sidewalks and walkways that the public uses to reach the museum. That signage, the order specifies, must inform visitors of the report's findings and the administration's stated policy, notify them that the museum's exhibits "should be renovated consistent with the findings in the Report," and direct them to other locations and resources for what the order describes as accurate information about American history.
The order also singles out the museum's treatment of the nation's founding. Asserting that the museum has failed to appropriately honor the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence during the 250th anniversary year of the country's founding, it directs the Interior secretary, again acting through the Park Service, to install temporary exhibits or signage on NPS-maintained sidewalks, walkways, and land that "corrects inaccurate information presented in the Museum."
Beyond the signage, the order enlists a broader set of officials in the effort. The Secretary of the Interior, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Administrator of General Services, and the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy are directed to identify and use "any and all available authorities" to promote the order's policy. That includes, according to the text, any mechanisms available to encourage correction of the issues identified in the report and to secure compliance with applicable statutes, regulations, executive actions, and funding or contract conditions.
The order contains standard limiting language common to executive orders. It states that nothing in the order impairs the authority granted by law to executive departments or agencies or the budgetary and legislative functions of the OMB director. It directs that the order be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. Notably for anyone considering a challenge, the order declares that it "is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity" by any party against the United States, its agencies, or its officers. The order also assigns the costs of its publication to the Department of the Interior.
The measure directly affects the operations of the Smithsonian Institution, a trust instrumentality that receives substantial federal appropriations and whose museums line the National Mall. For visitors to the National Museum of American History, the immediate practical change is the prospect of government-installed signs on the public walkways leading to the building, presenting the administration's characterization of the museum's exhibits before those visitors enter. The reference to funding and contract conditions signals potential pressure on the institution's financial and operational relationships with federal agencies.
The order does not itself specify a timeline for installing the signage, name the specific exhibits at issue, or detail the contents of the underlying report beyond the passages it quotes. It leaves implementation to the Interior Department, the Park Service, and the other named officials, whose actions will determine the order's practical reach in the coming weeks and months.