Fact Check: Did Trump threaten to put giant traps all over Smithsonian museum?
WASHINGTON, DC: After President Donald Trump ordered ‘inaccurate’ signs to be placed outside the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, a rumor began circulating on social media claiming that Trump had threatened to place traps all over the museum. The claim has sparked mockery and speculation, prompting a fact-check.
Claim: Donald Trump threatened to lay traps around Smithsonian museum
The claim surfaced as a post on X, which stated, “BREAKING: Donald Trump is reportedly threatening to put giant tarps over all of D.C.'s Smithsonian museums if they do an exhibit on presidential rankings because he knows nearly all expert historians rank his 1st term in the bottom 5, and his 2nd term is going even worse.”
The post has garnered more than two hundred thousand views as of this writing, drawing mockery and criticism, suggesting that many believe the claim to be true, while few others have questioned its reality.
Fact Check: The claim originated as a satire
The claim, however, is false, as there are no credible reports of the president threatening to put giant traps around the iconic museum.
A search on Google for the claim yielded no relevant results from prominent news media outlets, which, if true, would have been widely covered.
Also, the remark in the post that states, “because he knows nearly all expert historians rank his 1st term in the bottom 5, and his 2nd term is going even worse,” is opinionated and unreliable.
Additionally, the claim was posted by an account named ‘The Halfway Post,’ which describes itself in the bio as ‘satire.’
Donald Trump orders warning signs at Smithsonian museum
Trump has ordered that warning signs be placed outside the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, claiming some exhibits show what his administration considers "inaccurate" accounts of US history.
The order tells the Department of the Interior to put up the signs and guide visitors to what it calls "accurate information" about America's history.
The Trump administration has often accused the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum and research complex, as well as other academic institutions, of pushing an anti-American bias.
The executive order comes just days after Smithsonian director Anthea Hartig was questioned by Republican lawmakers in two congressional hearings, during which the museum was accused of being influenced by "woke ideology" in its exhibits, educational materials, and planning documents.
