US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to remove "improper ideology" from the famed Smithsonian Museums -- and the National Zoo -- expanding his conservative clampdown on cultural institutions.
Trump, who has sought to root out what he called "woke" culture since returning to power in January, accused the Smithsonian of trying to rewrite American history on issues of race and gender.
His order puts hardline Vice President JD Vance in charge of efforts to carry out the order at the Smithsonian's museums, educations and research centers.
Trump said this should include a drive to "remove improper ideology from such properties."
The Smithsonian operates 21 internationally renowned museums and galleries, mainly in and around Washington, dedicated to art, science, space and American history.
They include the National Zoo in the US capital, which recently welcomed two giant pandas from China, just days after Trump's inauguration for a second term.
The presidential order -- titled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History" -- targeted a number of examples of what it also called "corrosive ideology."
It said the National Museum of African American History and Culture, one of the newest Smithsonian additions, had described hard work and the nuclear family as "aspects of 'White Culture.'"
Trump also targeted what he said was a plan by the as-yet-unopened American Women's history museum for "celebrating the exploits of male athletes participating in women's sports."
There was no immediate reaction from the Smithsonian.
The Smithsonian Institute was founded in the mid-19th century with a donation from a deceased and childless British chemist, James Smithson, who asked in his will for his wealth to be used to create an educational institution in the then-young United States -- a country he had never set foot in.
Trump's wide-ranging 21st century effort to reshape the US government has increasingly extended to cultural issues, where he is seeking to stamp his conservative mark.
The 78-year-old Republican recently took over the chairmanship of the Kennedy Center in Washington, a famed arts venue, after complaining that it was too liberal.
