President Donald Trump ordered warning signs to be placed Friday in front of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, directing visitors to what he says is accurate information after calling the museum's displays inaccurate.
The signs are meant to point people to locations and resources for what Trump described as the real story of America's history. He said they will explain the July 4 report and enforce its findings under his March 2025 executive order, turning a fight over museum curation into a public notice posted where visitors enter.
Trump directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to work with the National Park Service to install temporary signage along the NPS-maintained sidewalks and walkways used to reach the museum. The order pushes the dispute outside the building itself and onto the route visitors take before they see a single exhibit.
That matters because the fight is not just over what is in the National Museum of American History, but over who gets to define the country's past. Trump said the Smithsonian leadership does not present American history as a shared national inheritance and instead treats it as a tool for social justice and the radical transformation of society. He also said the leadership of the institution and of the museum cannot be trusted to tell America's story with honesty and gratitude.
Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch has pushed back. In an email to NBC News earlier this month, Bunch said the White House's report is not a fair characterization of the work and totality of the National Museum of American History. He wrote that the Smithsonian's work is driven by scholarship, accuracy and an uncompromising commitment to tell the fullness of America's story, and said the institution remains committed to scholarship, nonpartisanship, independence, accuracy and integrity.
The exact material the warning signs will point to as inaccurate was not identified, and the order leaves the public with a broader question: how long the signs will stay up once installed. Trump told officials to use all available authorities to carry out the directive, but on Friday the Smithsonian declined to comment, leaving the temporary notices and their reach to be worked out by the White House, Doug Burgum, the National Park Service and the Office of Management and Budget behind them.
