Trump signs executive order to restore statues removed during Black Lives Matter protests to restore truth in America
The order tasks the Interior Department with reviewing all changes made to monuments, statues and plaques under its jurisdiction since January 2020.
Black Lives Matter protests.
President Donald Trump signed a new executive order titled: "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History" which seeks to reverse what his Administration describes as a negative reinterpretation of American history, with a particular focus on restoring statues and monuments removed since 2020.
The measure, billed as an effort to "restore truth and sanity" to the country's historical narrative, aims to counter what the document calls "divisive race-centered ideologies" at federal institutions such as the Smithsonian.
The order, signed Thursday, tasks the Department of the Interior with reviewing all changes made to monuments, statues and plaques under its jurisdiction since January 2020. If such modifications or removals are deemed to respond to a "false" or partisan narrative, the directive calls for their restoration.
Among the figures explicitly mentioned in the text is Christopher Columbus, whose monuments have been the subject of controversy and removal in several cities since the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in 2020. So far, the Department of the Interior has not issued official statements on the implementation of this measure.
The text also states that monuments managed by the National Park Service (NPS) and other federal agencies should not include messages that "unfairly discredit" historical figures or events.
Instead, highlighting the accomplishments of the American people and the natural beauty of the country is encouraged.
In parallel, according to a report from The Gazette, the National Park Service had already adjusted its digital content following another previous executive order reaffirming the existence of only two biological sexes.
As a result, the NPS removed references to transgender figures on the Stonewall National Monument website, including pages dedicated to activists such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, protagonists of the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
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