President Donald Trump has ordered that several historical monuments across the country be restored after they were removed under the previous administration.
On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to restore U.S. monuments removed during former President Joe Biden’s term.
Trump’s order also directs them to scrub “anti-American ideology” from national museums, parks, and memorials.
The order instructs the interior secretary to reinstate historical markers and statues taken down after January 1, 2020.
Vice President JD Vance is tasked with reviewing and reversing “divisive” Marxism-rooted “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) initiatives at the Smithsonian Institution.
It further prohibits taxpayer funding for exhibitions that promote race-based narratives inconsistent with federal law or “degrade shared American values.”
The executive order states:
“Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history … reconstructed as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.
“It is the policy of my Administration to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union.”
I have authorized the Federal Government to arrest anyone who vandalizes or destroys any monument, statue or other such Federal property in the U.S. with up to 10 years in prison, per the Veteran’s Memorial Preservation Act, or such other laws that may be pertinent…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 23, 2020
Among the memorials likely to be reinstated is the Confederate Reconciliation Monument at Arlington National Cemetery.
The century-old statue was dismantled in 2023 under the Biden administration.
The memorial became a flashpoint in recent years as leftists accused it of glorifying the Confederacy.
It was ultimately removed after recommendations by a congressionally mandated Naming Commission.
The commission was established in the wake of the Black Lives Matter-led nationwide riots and widespread looting and destruction of property following the death of George Floyd in 2020.
The movement spurred the toppling or defacing of dozens of historical monuments across the country.
Trump’s order applies to other federally controlled properties, including Civil War battlefields, presidential sites, and National Park Service locations.
The president’s directive singles out the National Museum of African American History and Culture for linking concepts like individualism and the nuclear family to “white culture.”
It accuses the forthcoming American Women’s History Museum of planning to “recognize men as women.”
“Museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to divisive narratives,” the order reads.
The order also calls for citizen appointments to the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents.
Top domestic aides Vince Haley and Lindsey Halligan are tasked with ensuring congressional appropriations reflect the new mandate.
