Trump slams US museums for focus on 'how bad slavery was'
"The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future," Trump wrote.
He was referring to the Smithsonian Institution, an independent organization that operates 17 museums, galleries and a zoo located across the country, which receives public funding, and which he has previously accused of espousing a "corrosive ideology."
The translatlantic slave trade from Africa to the Americas spanned three centuries, and has been referred to as the United States' "original sin."
The country's South fought to maintain slavery in the 1861-1865 Civil War, but lost.
Since then African Americans have fought for their civil rights, including in the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, which forced a new national reckoning on the darker parts of US history.
"The Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of 'WOKE'," Trump wrote in the Truth Social post, using his shorthand for leftist social justice movements.
For months now, Trump has disparaged cultural institutions, which have worked to bring more diversity to exhibits and programming in recent years, highlighting women, people of color and queer culture.
Last week, the White House posted a letter to its website saying the administration plans to target eight major museums for "comprehensive internal review" in an effort to "celebrate American exceptionalism" and "remove divisive or partisan narratives."
The targeted institutions include the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the National Museum of the American Indian, the letter said.
"Now museums are being targeted because they speak too openly about the horrors of slavery," wrote prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump on X in response to Trump's post.
"If telling the truth about slavery makes a museum 'too woke,' then the problem isn't the history, it's the people who want to erase it," he continued.
In 2017, during his first term, Trump visited the National Museum of African American History -- which opened the year before and which depicts the slave trade, among other historic subjects.
"This museum is a beautiful tribute to so many American heroes," Trump said after his tour, according to US media reports from the time. "It's amazing to see."
© 2025 AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
13 minutes ago
- France 24
Meme-lord Newsom riles Republicans with Trump-trolling posts
Newsom -- hotly-tipped for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination -- has been parodying Trump with a series of posts written in the Republican leader's distinct style that he hopes will show his party how to beat the social media master at his own game. In recent weeks the governor has posted all manner of manipulated images depicting him in the kind of over-the-top vignettes popular among Trump's "MAGA" movement -- superimposing his face on Mount Rushmore and appearing to pray with MAGA favorites Tucker Carlson, Kid Rock and Hulk Hogan. When Trump's one-word weekend post -- saying simply "Bela" -- left the president's supporters scratching their heads, Newsom posted a screenshot alongside his own caption: "DONALD (TINY HANDS), HAS WRITTEN HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY THIS MORNING — UNFORTUNATELY (LOW IQ) HE SPELLED IT WRONG — 'BETA.'" The 57-year-old Democrat mocked Trump's salesman-like rhetorical style in a post about redistricting plans that he said had led "MANY" people to call him "GAVIN CHRISTOPHER 'COLUMBUS' NEWSOM (BECAUSE OF THE MAPS!)." And he has taken to ending his posts with the much-mocked sign-off that Trump, 79, made famous: "THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!" The tweets have quickly gained currency among Newsom's supporters, who have shared their own "Trumpian" memes of a shirtless Newsom with bulging muscles, brandishing pistols or riding into battle on a velociraptor. 'Newsom Derangement Syndrome' The governor called Trump's late-night social media tirades "pathetic," telling historian and podcast host Heather Cox Richardson that people who normally "can't stand" politicians had been reaching out to compliment his new approach. "And they're maybe paying attention to the childishness that is Donald Trump, that we've allowed him to normalize -- the way he communicates, talking down to us, looking past us," Newsom said. "I've got kids, and I've got a whole generation of people who thinks this is normal. It is not, and it can't be normalized, and that's big part of what we're also pushing back against." The posts are garnering the attention of X's algorithm while sparking the ire of Republicans, conservative-leaning political commentators and the right-wing media. Dana Perino, an anchor on Fox News, slammed Newsom's new strategy, telling viewers: "If I were his wife, I would say you are making a fool of yourself, stop it." "NDS - Newsom Derangement Syndrome is a real thing," Republican political consultant Mike Madrid posted on X, retooling the Republican accusation of "Trump Derangement Syndrome" levied to dismiss criticism of the president. 'Inside joke' The snark appears to be working. The number of followers of Newsom's official press office account on X -- where the cheeky announcement are being posted -- has soared by 450 percent since mid-June, according to CNN, with huge strides also seen on Instagram and TikTok. Daily Google searches for Newsom are up 500 percent since August 1, the network reported. Newsom says the MAGA-coded posts are not only annoying Republicans, but redefining how Democrats can provide an effective opposition to one of the most media-savvy leaders ever to occupy the White House. Asked for comment, the White House shared with AFP an image it had initially sent US publication Politico repurposing a scene from the show "Mad Men" to demonstrate that Trump is not just unfazed, but doesn't think about Newsom at all. Politico had called it the first official White House press statement delivered exclusively in meme form. Jeff Le, a deputy cabinet secretary for previous California governor Jerry Brown, said Newsom was responding to widespread discontent at the Democratic Party's perceived lack of fight when it comes to Trump -- and the yawning leadership vacuum. "His messaging has helped introduce him in a tongue-and-cheek manner that reflects the inside joke that many digital native Democrats understand," Le told AFP. But he added that the strategy was "not without risk." "If there is a terrible natural disaster -- a catastrophic fire or mudslide -- it's fair to say that the White House keeps score," he said, "and the president may be less inclined to provide timely federal government support and funding for the response." © 2025 AFP
France 24
13 minutes ago
- France 24
Rights group says US authorities using AI to surveil pro-Palestinian protesters
Amnesty International on Wednesday accused US authorities of using artificial intelligence tools from Palantir and Babel Street to monitor immigrants and target non-citizens at demonstrations supporting Palestinians. A review of documents, including Department of Homeland Security public records, showed that software provided by the AI firms enables mass surveillance and assessment of people, often to target those not from the United States, according to Amnesty International. "The US government is deploying invasive AI-powered technologies within a context of a mass deportation agenda and crackdown on pro-Palestine expression, leading to a host of human rights violations," said Erika Guevara-Rosas of the rights group. "This has led to a pattern of unlawful detentions and mass deportations, creating a climate of fear and exacerbating the 'chilling effect' for migrant communities and for international students across schools and campuses." Amnesty research determined the United States is using the AI tools to track migrants, refugees and asylum seekers as part of a "Catch and Revoke" initiative. The State Department initiative involves social media monitoring, visa status tracking, and automated threat assessments of visa holders such as foreign students, according to Amnesty. "Systems like Babel X and Immigration OS (from Palantir) play a key role in the US administration's ability to carry out its repressive tactics," said Guevara-Rosas. "Unless Palantir and Babel Street can demonstrate they can use their leverage as suppliers to improve the serious human rights consequences borne by the policies of their clients, these companies should immediately cease their work with the US administration related to immigration enforcement." Use of the AI surveillance tools risks fueling US President Donald Trump's capacity to "deport marginalized people on a whim," Amnesty argued. Since being sworn in for a second term in January, Trump has targeted top US universities over claims they are politically biased towards "woke" politics and has charged -- without evidence -- that they have engaged in antisemitic policies. The administration has characterised widespread campus protests and sit-ins in the United States calling for an end to Israel's war in Gaza as being "antisemitic," and moved to expel foreign students and professors who took part in them. Trump has made the question of student protest, particularly by foreign scholars, a flashpoint political issue.
France 24
43 minutes ago
- France 24
Texas lawmakers approve congressional maps favoring Republicans
Texas Republicans on Wednesday took the first step toward approving new congressional maps that would give their party as many as five new seats in the House of Representatives, spurring what's likely to be a national battle over redistricting. The approval by the Texas House of Representatives came at the urging of President Donald Trump, who pushed for the extraordinary mid-decade revision of congressional maps to give his party a better chance at holding onto the US House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections. The maps need to be approved by the GOP-controlled state Senate and signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott before they become official. But the Texas House presented the best chance for Democrats to derail the redraw. Democratic legislators delayed the vote by two weeks by fleeing Texas earlier this month in protest, and they were assigned round-the-clock police monitoring upon their return to ensure they attended Wednesday's session. The approval of the Texas maps on an 88-52 party-line vote is likely to prompt California's Democratic-controlled state Legislature this week to approve of a new House map creating five new Democratic-leaning districts. But the California map would require voter approval in November. Democrats have also vowed to challenge the new Texas map in court and complained that Republicans made the political power move before passing legislation responding to deadly floods that swept the state last month. 01:56 Texas Republicans openly said they were acting in their party's interest. State Rep. Todd Hunter, who wrote the legislation formally creating the new map, noted that the US Supreme Court has allowed politicians to redraw districts for nakedly partisan purposes. 'The underlying goal of this plan is straight forward: improve Republican political performance,' Hunter, a Republican, said on the floor. After nearly eight hours of debate, Hunter took the floor again to sum up the entire dispute as nothing more than a partisan fight. 'What's the difference, to the whole world listening? Republicans like it, and Democrats do not.' Democrats said the disagreement was about more than partisanship. 'In a democracy, people choose their representatives,' State Rep. Chris Turner said. 'This bill flips that on its head and lets pols in Washington, D.C., choose their voters.' State Rep. John H. Bucy blamed the president. 'This is Donald Trump's map,' Bucy said. 'It clearly and deliberately manufactures five more Republican seats in Congress because Trump himself knows that the voters are rejecting his agenda.' The Republican power play has already triggered a national tit-for-tat battle as Democratic state lawmakers prepared to gather in California on Thursday to revise that state's map to create five new Democratic seats. 'This is a new Democratic Party, this is a new day, this is new energy out there all across this country,' California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said on a call with reporters on Wednesday. 'And we're going to fight fire with fire.' A new California map would need to be approved by voters in a special election in November because that state normally operates with a nonpartisan commission drawing the map to avoid the very sort of political brawl that is playing out. Newsom himself backed the 2008 ballot measure to create that process, as did former President Barack Obama. But in a sign of Democrats' stiffening resolve, Obama Tuesday night backed Newsom's bid to redraw the California map, saying it was a necessary step to stave off the GOP's Texas move. 'I think that approach is a smart, measured approach,' Obama said during a fundraiser for the Democratic Party's main redistricting arm. The incumbent president's party usually loses seats in the midterm election, and the GOP currently controls the House of Representatives by a mere three votes. Trump is going beyond Texas in his push to remake the map. He's pushed Republican leaders in conservative states like Indiana and Missouri to also try to create new Republican seats. Ohio Republicans were already revising their map before Texas moved. Democrats, meanwhile, are mulling reopening Maryland's and New York's maps as well. However, more Democratic-run states have commission systems like California's or other redistricting limits than Republican ones do, leaving the GOP with a freer hand to swiftly redraw maps. New York, for example, can't draw new maps until 2028, and even then, only with voter approval. In Texas, there was little that outnumbered Democrats could do other than fume and threaten a lawsuit to block the map. Because the Supreme Court has blessed purely partisan gerrymandering, the only way opponents can stop the new Texas map would be by arguing it violates the Voting Rights Act requirement to keep minority communities together so they can select representatives of their choice. Democrats noted that, in every decade since the 1970s, courts have found that Texas' legislature did violate the Voting Rights Act in redistricting, and that civil rights groups had an active lawsuit making similar allegations against the 2021 map that Republicans drew up. Republicans contend the new map creates more new minority-majority seats than the previous one. Democrats and some civil rights groups have countered that the GOP does that through mainly a numbers game that leads to halving the number of the state's House seats that will be represented by a Black representative. State Rep. Ron Reynolds noted the country just marked the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act's passage and warned GOP members about how they'd be remembered if they voted for what he called 'this racial gerrymander.' 'Just like the people who were on the wrong side of history in 1965, history will be looking at the people who made the decisions in the body this day,' Reynolds, a Democrat, said. Republicans spent far less time talking on Wednesday, content to let their numbers do the talking in the lopsided vote. Still, House Republicans' frustration at the Democrats' flight and ability to delay the vote was palpable. House Speaker Dustin Burrows announced as debate started that doors to the chamber were locked and any member leaving was required to have a permission slip. One Democrat who refused the 24-hour police monitoring, State Rep. Nicole Collier, had been confined to the House floor since Monday night. Some Democratic state lawmakers joined Collier Tuesday night for what Rep. Cassandra Garcia Hernandez dubbed 'a sleepover for democracy.' Republicans issued civil arrest warrants to bring the Democrats back after they left the state Aug. 3, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott asked the state Supreme Court to oust several Democrats from office. The lawmakers also face a fine of $500 for every day they were absent.
