President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing Vice President JD Vance to eliminate "divisive race-centered ideology" from Smithsonian museums, educational and research centers, and the National Zoo.

Titled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," the order states, "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. This shift has promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive." It goes on to say: "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 calls for Vance, along with Vince Haley, the assistant to the president for domestic policy and Lindsey Halligan, the special assistant to the president and senior associate staff secretary, to work with Congress to prohibit the Smithsonian from receiving appropriations for exhibitions and programs that, "degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy." It also requests that future appropriations "celebrate the achievements of women in the American Women's History Museum and do not recognize men as women in any respect in the Museum."