President Donald Trump today signed an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”

The document asserts there has been a “widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.” 

Claiming the Biden Administration fostered a “corrosive ideology,” Trump’s order asserts that, “rather than fostering unity and a deeper understanding of our shared past, the widespread effort to rewrite history deepens societal divides and fosters a sense of national shame, disregarding the progress America has made and the ideals that continue to inspire millions around the globe.”

The order names the Smithsonian Institution specifically, saying the directive’s purpose is “to remove improper ideology from such properties,” including the Institution’s museums, education and research centers and the National Zoo.

The order directs that the Vice President and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget work with Congress to “prohibit expenditure on exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy.” It also says the Smithsonian is will “not recognize men as women in any respect.”

It further directs The Secretary of the Interior to “determine whether, since January 1, 2020, public monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties within the Department of the Interior’s jurisdiction have been removed or changed to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history, inappropriately minimize the value of certain historical events or figures, or include any other improper partisan ideology.” If those conditions are found to exist, the secretary is to “take action to reinstate the pre-existing monuments.”

Said monuments cannot, under Trump’s declaration, “contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times).”

In recent weeks the president has sought to cleanse another American institution: The Kennedy Center. Earlier this year, Trump ousted the board of the center and had himself named himself as its new chairman. Among his grievances are what he calls the institution’s “woke” programming.

Since Trump’s takeover, dozens of high profile productions have canceled performances. Just today, the composer and lyricist of Fellow Travelers, an opera based on Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel about the anti-gay lavender scare of the 1950s, withdrew the work from the 2025-26 season.

The producers of Hamilton pulled out of a staging next year, and comedian Issa Rae canceled an appearance, while Ben Folds and Renee Fleming withdrew as Kennedy Center advisers. In a 26-show list of total cancelations put out by the Kennedy Center earlier this month, the center notes that most have been canceled by the artist or artist availability, or by the producers. 

Greg Evans contributed to this report.