Trump says US museums will be reviewed to eliminate ‘woke ideology’
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Trump says US museums, including the Smithsonian, will undergo reviews to eliminate “woke ideology,” expanding his administration’s anti-woke campaign.
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President Donald Trump listens during an event in the Oval Office to mark the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Washington (AP)
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that museums across the country will be subjected to review processes aimed at eliminating what he called the remnants of “woke ideology.”
“We are not going to allow this [wokeness] 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.”
He argued that the United States cannot adhere to what he described as woke ideology, claiming that doing so would mean going “broke.”
Smithsonian targeted for criticizing slavery
Trump specifically pointed to the Smithsonian Institution, saying it represented the “last remaining segment of woke” in the US.
“The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been,” he wrote, vowing not to allow such narratives to continue.
The comments follow Trump’s earlier pledge in March that the US would “no longer be woke.” He reiterated that his administration would push for a system based on merit, not identity markers such as gender or race.
'Wokeness is bad'
In the longest-ever congressional speech, Trump declared that he is "getting wokeness out of our schools and out of our military."
"We don’t want it," he says. "Wokeness is trouble. Wokeness is bad. It’s gone."
Trump revealed he issued an executive order that prohibits public schools from "indoctrinating" students with "transgender ideology."
He detailed how Congress would adopt legislation permanently prohibiting and criminalizing sex modifications on minors and signed an executive order threatening to withdraw government funds from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to people under the age of 19.
Read more: Trump-era rhetoric fuels surge in white nationalist activity: Reuters
