Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution
Signed July 24, 2026·Donald Trump·91 FR 47925
Source
Everything on this page is drawn from the Federal Register, the official daily journal of the United States government. Where this page and the source disagree, the source governs.
Plain-language summary
Responds to a Domestic Policy Council report, prepared under Executive Order 14253, that criticized the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History for its portrayal of American history. Declares it the administration's policy to address the report's findings and restore trust in the Smithsonian. Directs 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 to use available authorities, including funding and contract conditions, to promote this policy and encourage the Smithsonian's compliance with applicable rules. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service and in coordination with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, to install temporary signage on Park Service-maintained walkways near the museum notifying visitors of the report's findings and directing them to other information sources, and to install signage or exhibits correcting information about the Declaration of Independence's signers. States implementation depends on available appropriations and existing legal authority.
Not written or reviewed by a person. Read the full order below for anything you intend to rely on.
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Legal standing
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Claimed authority
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered
Quoted from the order as written. Many orders cite nothing more specific than “the Constitution and the laws”; this reproduces what the order claims, not an assessment of whether it holds.
Disposition
See: EO 14253, March 27, 2025
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The order, in full
Executive Order 14416 of July 24, 2026
Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Policy. On March 27, 2025, I issued
Executive Order 14253 (Restoring Truth and Sanity to
American History). Pursuant to that order, the Domestic
Policy Council recently completed a months-long review
of the Smithsonian Institution and its National Museum
of American History (Museum) and issued its findings in
the report entitled Saving America's Story: How
Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution's
National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage
(Report).
The Report demonstrates that the Smithsonian leadership
does not present American history as a shared national
inheritance to be taught and celebrated, but instead
views American history as a “prime tool” to advance
ideas of social justice and the radical transformation
of our society. The Report also overwhelmingly
demonstrates that current leadership of both the
Smithsonian Institution and the Museum cannot be
trusted to tell America's story with honesty and
gratitude.
It is therefore the policy of my Administration to take
all available steps to ensure that the issues
identified in the Report are addressed and to restore
trust in the Smithsonian Institution.
Sec. 2. Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution.
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 shall identify and utilize any and
all available authorities to promote the policy of this
order and to restore trust in the Smithsonian
Institution, including any mechanisms available to
encourage correction of the issues identified in the
Report and compliance with any applicable statutes,
regulations, executive actions, and funding or contract
conditions.
Sec. 3. Warning Visitors About the Ideological Capture
at the National Museum of American History. (a) The
Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director
of the National Park Service (NPS) and in coordination
with the Assistant to the President for Domestic
Policy, shall install temporary signage along the NPS-
maintained sisdewalks and walkways used by the public
to access the Museum, informing visitors of the
findings of the Report and of the policy set forth in
section 1 of this order. Such signage shall notify
visitors that the Museum exhibits should be renovated
consistent with the findings in the Report and direct
visitors to locations and resources for accurate
information regarding America's history.
(b) Because the Museum has failed to appropriately
honor the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence
during this 250th anniversary year of the founding of
our country, the Secretary of the Interior, acting
through the Director of the NPS and in coordination
with the Assistant to the President for Domestic
Policy, shall install temporary exhibits or signage on
NPS-maintained sidewalks, walkways, and land used by
the public that corrects inaccurate information
presented in the Museum.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(c) This order 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 departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
(d) The costs for publication of this order shall
be borne by the Department of the Interior.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
July 24, 2026.Reproduced from the Federal Register plain-text record, signed July 24, 2026. Typesetting artifacts are removed; no wording is changed.