Trump takes on woke Smithsonians including the ZOO by putting J.D. Vance in charge of 'removing improper ideology'

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday putting Vice President J.D. Vance in charge of 'removing improper ideology' from the Smithsonian museums, including the National Zoo. 

The order complained that 'Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation's history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.' 

'Once widely respected as a symbol of American excellence and a global icon of cultural achievement, the Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology,' the order read. 'This shift has promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.' 

It used examples of a Smithsonian American Art Museum exhibit that said '[s]ocieties including the United States have used race to establish and maintain systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement.'

And another at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which 'proclaimed that "hard work," "individualism," and "the nuclear family" are aspects of "White culture."' 

The order also mentioned how the forthcoming Smithsonian American Women's History Museum planned to feature female transgender athletes. 

Vance, who already serves on the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents, will be charged with overseeing the efforts at the Smithsonians museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo. 

The order instructs Vance to work with Congress to target funding for programs that promote 'divisive narratives.' 

President Donald Trump (left) signed an executive order Thursday putting Vice President J.D. Vance (right) in charge of 'removing improper ideology' from the Smithsonian museums including the National Zoo

Vice President J.D. Vance has been put in charge of an effort to ensure there's no 'corrosive ideology' on display at the Smithsonians museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo (pictured) 

It also greenlit Vance to name 'citizen members' to the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents to help implement the plan. 

Additionally the order blasted the Biden administration for promoting this 'corrosive ideology.' 

'Museums in our Nation's capital should be places where individuals go to learn - not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history,' the order said. 

'To advance this policy, we will restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness - igniting the imagination of young minds, honoring the richness of American history and innovation, and instilling pride in the hearts of all Americans,' it read.  

With the order, Trump makes good on a campaign pledge to rid the country of 'critical race theory' - used by conservatives to describe educational efforts portraying slavery as the country's original sin. 

Trump has also railed against 'transgender ideology' - and used several other orders to marginalize that commmunity. 

Thursday's order specifically said that Vance would work with Congress to ensure that the forthcoming American Women's History Museum would 'celebrate the achievements of women' and would 'not recognize men as women in any respect in the Museum.' 

Historically Trump has also been against moves to remove Confederate monuments from public spaces, which was part of the broader 'Black Lives Matter' movement, after the death of the George Floyd by a white police office in Minneapolis in May 2020.

The Smithsonian Castle is seen on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. In a new executive order, Trump blasted the Smithsonian for 'com[ing] under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology' 

The order also instructs the Secretary of the Interior, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, 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.' 

In a similar move, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth already reverted the name of Fort Liberty to Fort Bragg, which was originally named after a Confederate officer, one that helped the southern states lose the Civil War. 

The move, however, did not completely reverse course, as Fort Bragg is now named after Roland L. Bragg, a World War II fighter with the same last name, who earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart. 

Trump felt so strongly against the renaming of military bases that were named after Confederates that he vetoed a major Pentagon spending bill ahead of his 2021 departure from office. 

Finally the executive order instructs Burgum to 'improve the infrastructure of Independence National Historical Park' in Philadelphia, ahead of the nation's 250th birthday on July 4, 2026.