President Donald Trump’s next unhinged revenge plot is reportedly going to involve MAGA protest signs placed outside the Smithsonian.
Trump, 80, and his administration have been actively targeting the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History during his second term as president.
Last year he called the Smithsonian “WOKE” and “OUT OF CONTROL” for covering parts of American history including slavery but “Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future.”
Now Trump wants warning signs erected outside the Smithsonian, accusing its leadership of ideological bias, according to a report in The Atlantic on Tuesday.
The publication obtained a letter sent by Trump ally, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, to Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, on Sept. 3 saying that the National Park Service would be placing around a dozen signs outside the museum, at an estimated cost of $84,000. The funds would come from taxpayers, out of the Interior Department budget.
Merkley and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, had requested information from Burgum after Trump signed an executive order in July demanding the installation of the signs.
In his order, Trump said the Smithsonian leadership “does not present American history as a shared national inheritance to be taught and celebrated,” and treats American history as a “prime tool” it uses “to advance ideas of social justice and the radical transformation of our society.”
While the wording on the signs has yet to be finalized, the order states they would be placed on sidewalks and walkways to “warn visitors” about the “ideological capture” at the Smithsonian and “correct inaccurate information presented in the Museum.”
The museum includes reference to Trump being impeached twice as part of its exhibits.
Burgum’s letter added that the signs would also give visitors “important context about the exhibits they are about to encounter and the personal viewpoints that the curators of the exhibits are seeking to advance.”
He said, “This may be the first instance in which executive branch intervention of this nature has become Necessary.”
Last week, Lonnie Bunch, the first Black leader of the Smithsonian, announced that he would retire at the end of the year, following sustained pressure from the Trump administration.
He has repeatedly pushed back on Trump’s claims of bias, especially over issues of race and the museum’s presentation of American history.
Speaking to Meet the Press in July, Bunch said the Smithsonian provides critical “ambiguity” about U.S. history.
“It helps you understand complexity, nuance, subtlety, debate, and I think that that’s a major contribution. If you could help people feel comfortable with ambiguity, then you could help a nation move forward.”
He added that America’s greatest strength is “not running away from its history, but it’s understanding how that history shaped us and continues to shape us.”
Trump insisted this week the Smithsonian must “erect a 30-foot (9-m) ‘Colossus statue’” of George Washington outside the museum, calling him “America’s Greatest Hero.”
Washington, who was president from 1789 to 1797, was a lifelong slaveholder.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House, the Smithsonian, and the Interior Department for comment.
