Trump’s Trigger Warnings

In an executive order posted this afternoon, the president directed the Department of the Interior to place signs outside the National Museum of American History warning passersby about “ideological capture” and detailing the findings of his administration’s recent, quickly contested report on the museum. Partially funded by the federal government, the institution is governed by a board of regents, which does not have presidential appointees and can’t be purged in the way that the board of the Kennedy Center was. Although in some specific cases the Smithsonian has been treated as part of the executive branch, and in others it has not, the institution is not an executive agency and not overseen by the president like the National Park Service is (NPS is managed by the Interior Department).