Erasing the Past to Rewrite the Future: Trump’s Executive Order and the Authoritarian Playbook

How “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” Threatens Our Democracy, Our Memory, and Our Future

The War on Memory Has Begun

Let’s be blunt: this is a battle over who gets to define reality. On March 27, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” The document’s language sounds benign, even noble. But make no mistake: this is the front line in a much deeper war — one against memory, truth, and democratic accountability.

This order empowers Vice President JD Vance, now seated on the Smithsonian Board of Regents, to purge federal museums and institutions of anything deemed “anti-American” or “divisive.” What exactly qualifies? Histories of colonialism? Slavery? Genocide? Racial terror? The systemic suppression of women, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people? All are on the chopping block.

It’s no coincidence that this comes after months of digital purges — where climate data, LGBTQ+ resources, reproductive health information, and civil rights materials have quietly vanished from government websites. This executive order isn’t isolated. It’s the culmination of a calculated effort to rewrite American history in real time.

The goal? A government-approved mythology — one that erases the blood-soaked brutality of U.S. expansionism, slavery, and oppression, and replaces it with a sanitized tale of exceptionalism. This is historical revisionism at scale. And it’s how authoritarian regimes rise — by controlling the story we tell ourselves about who we are.

We’ve seen this before. In Nazi Germany. In Stalin’s Russia. In Mao’s China. In Pinochet’s Chile. When truth becomes a threat, the state makes lies policy. This isn’t about “truth and sanity.” This is about control.

Policy Content & Intent: A Blueprint for Censorship

The executive order lays out two core mandates:

• Purge “divisive” or “anti-American” content from museums, educational exhibits, and the Smithsonian network.

• Restore and protect federal monuments — including those torn down in recent years for honoring racist or colonial figures.

This policy is a weaponized narrative reset. It signals that only state-approved versions of history — ones that glorify nationalism and suppress dissent — are allowed to remain visible. Its true purpose? To erase historical accountability and dismantle public memory as a check on power.

Historical Context: What the State Wants Us to Forget

This is the history Trump and his allies are trying to erase:

• The enslavement of Africans, which built the American economy on stolen bodies and unpaid labor.

• The exploitation of Chinese workers, imported to construct railroads under horrific, deadly conditions — then targeted by racist exclusion laws.

• The Bonus Army massacre (1932), when over 200 WWI veterans and their families were violently dispersed and killed by U.S. troops under General Patton’s command for demanding their promised benefits.

• The U.S.-backed coup in Iran (1953), which toppled a democratically elected leader to secure oil profits.

• The genocide of the Marshallese people, used for nuclear weapons testing without consent, leaving entire islands uninhabitable and generations sickened.

• The forced sterilizations of Black, Indigenous, and Latina women throughout the 20th century, under the banner of eugenics.

• The targeting of anti-war, civil rights, and LGBTQ+ activists by COINTELPRO, the FBI’s domestic surveillance program.

This is not “divisive ideology.” This is our history. And a nation that forgets its sins is a nation doomed to repeat them.

Authoritarian Echoes: This Has Happened Before

When authoritarian regimes rise, they don’t start with tanks. They start with textbooks.

• Nazi Germany burned “un-German” books, rewrote school curricula, and replaced inconvenient truths with nationalist propaganda. They criminalized dissent and glorified racial “purity” while demonizing Jews, communists, and LGBTQ+ people.

• Stalin’s Soviet Union literally erased purged officials from historical photographs and airbrushed inconvenient facts from textbooks. Truth became a threat to state power.

• Maoist China launched the Cultural Revolution by weaponizing youth against history. Entire libraries were destroyed. Generations grew up with only the Party’s version of truth.

• Pinochet’s Chile banned leftist literature, shut down universities, and imprisoned those who preserved collective memory. Only one narrative — the regime’s — could survive.

Now, in 2025, the United States flirts with that same precipice. A new Fourth Reich of ideological cleansing is taking shape — not through violent coups, but through executive orders, website deletions, and policy memos.

Connection to Project 2025: A Coordinated Coup on Reality

This EO aligns directly with Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation-led agenda to restructure the federal government around Christian nationalist, corporatist ideals.

Project 2025 states clearly: “Cultural Marxism has marched through our institutions. It must be reversed.” This means:

• Dismantling the Department of Education

• Abolishing DEI initiatives

• Enshrining “patriotic education”

• Rewriting the administrative state from within

Trump’s March 27th EO is the historical enforcement wing of that project. It doesn’t just rewrite policy — it rewrites the story that justifies it.

State & Public Reactions

In states like Oregon, known for progressive stances on education and cultural issues, there may be organized opposition to the executive order. Educational institutions, local governments, and community organizations might issue statements or take actions to affirm their commitment to inclusive and comprehensive historical narratives.​

Interrelated Impacts

This executive order could influence other areas, such as educational curricula, public broadcasting content, and federally funded research priorities. It may also set a precedent for further executive actions aimed at cultural and educational institutions.​

Legal & Constitutional Considerations

The order raises several legal questions, including:​

• First Amendment Concerns: Potential infringement on freedom of speech and academic freedom by mandating specific historical interpretations.​

• Separation of Powers: The extent of executive authority to direct independent institutions like the Smithsonian and to mandate changes in educational content.

Predicted Outcomes

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My thoughts,

In an audacious move that reeks of authoritarian overreach, President Donald J. Trump has signed an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” a blatant attempt to sanitize and whitewash the complex tapestry of our nation’s past. This directive mandates the removal of so-called “improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology” from Smithsonian museums and other federal institutions, effectively censoring narratives that don’t align with a narrow, jingoistic interpretation of history. ​Reuters

This isn’t just an assault on academic freedom; it’s a calculated effort to erase the darker chapters of American history—episodes that hold the powerful accountable and serve as stark reminders of the injustices perpetrated in the name of progress. By scrubbing these truths from public consciousness, this administration seeks to construct a sanitized, mythical version of America, free from blemish and critical introspection.​

The Erasure of Inconvenient Truths

Consider the atrocities and systemic oppressions that have scarred our nation’s history:​

• The Enslavement of Africans and Exploitation of Chinese Laborers: For centuries, African slaves were the backbone of the American economy, subjected to inhumane treatment and stripped of all dignity. Similarly, Chinese immigrants were instrumental in building the Transcontinental Railroad, enduring deplorable conditions and rampant discrimination, only to be met with exclusionary laws that denied them basic rights.​

• The Massacre of the Bonus Army: In 1932, thousands of World War I veterans, known as the Bonus Army, marched on Washington, D.C., to demand the bonuses promised to them. They were met with brutal force as General Douglas MacArthur, with Major George S. Patton leading cavalry units, deployed tear gas and bayonets to disperse the unarmed veterans and their families, resulting in injuries and deaths. ​

• The Overthrow of Democratically Elected Governments: The United States has a history of orchestrating coups to depose democratically elected leaders who opposed American interests, such as the 1953 coup in Iran and the 1973 coup in Chile. These actions led to decades of authoritarian rule and human rights abuses, staining America’s professed commitment to democracy.​

A Call to Action Against the Rise of the Fourth Reich

This executive order is not an isolated incident but part of a broader, insidious campaign to rewrite history, suppress dissent, and consolidate power—hallmarks of authoritarian regimes. By controlling the narrative, this administration aims to mold a citizenry that is ignorant of its past and complacent in the face of creeping fascism.​

We stand at a precipice. The echoes of history warn us of the dangers of complacency. The rise of totalitarian regimes has often been preceded by the erasure and manipulation of history, the suppression of dissent, and the propagation of a singular, unchallenged narrative. We cannot allow the lessons of our past—the blood, sweat, and tears of those who fought for justice and equality—to be consigned to oblivion.​

It is incumbent upon us, as vigilant citizens and custodians of truth, to resist this blatant attempt at historical revisionism. We must demand transparency, uphold academic freedom, and ensure that our educational institutions remain bastions of critical thought and unvarnished truth. The future of our democracy depends on our unwavering commitment to confronting our past, acknowledging our failures, and striving toward a more just and equitable society.

This isn’t just another policy fight. It’s a fight over who we are allowed to be — and who we are allowed to remember. We must act:

✅ Support independent historians and archivists.
✅ Demand Congressional review of executive overreach.
✅ Protect teachers and educators from censorship.
✅ Archive and share deleted government content.
✅ Stay loud. Stay vigilant. Stay free.

➡️ Join the resistance. Share this story. Preserve the truth.

• Reuters. “Trump Signs Order Aiming to Eliminate ‘Anti-American Ideology’ from Smithsonian.” Reuters, 27 Mar. 2025. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-signs-order-aiming-eliminate-anti-american-ideology-smithsonian-2025-03-27/
• National Security Archive. “Disappearing Data.” GWU National Security Archive, 6 Feb. 2025. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/climate-change-transparency-project-foia/2025-02-06/disappearing-data-trump
• Wikipedia contributors. “2025 United States Government Online Resource Removals.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_United_States_government_online_resource_removals
• AP News. “US Government Websites Altered after Trump Orders DEI and Transgender Content Removal.” Associated Press, 28 Jan. 2025. https://apnews.com/article/government-websites-changes-trump-transgender-dei-orders-383fc983c6ca48804f1404cbc61ee9e9
• Rappeport, Alan. “Trump’s Government Websites Are Missing Key Pages.” The New York Times, 2 Feb. 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/upshot/trump-government-websites-missing-pages.html
• Liebermann, Oren. “Pentagon Orders DEI and Gender Policy Content Removed.” CNN, 19 Mar. 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/19/politics/pentagon-website-purge/index.html
• Katz, Leslie. “Inside the Race to Capture Government Websites Before They Vanish.” Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/lesliekatz/2024/10/23/inside-the-race-to-capture-government-websites-before-they-vanish-forever/
• National Archives. “Bonus Army March.” U.S. National Archives, https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/american_originals/bonus.html
• Wikipedia contributors. “Bonus Army.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army
• Heritage Foundation. “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise.” Project 2025, 2023. https://www.heritage.org/2025-mandate/
• US Department of State Office of the Historian. “Overthrow of Iran’s Prime Minister Mossadegh.” U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/iranian-coup
• Wikipedia contributors. “Cultural Revolution.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution
• Wikipedia contributors. “Book Burnings in Nazi Germany.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_book_burnings
• Wikipedia contributors. “COINTELPRO.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO
• The Guardian Editorial Board. “Trump’s Erasure of Public Memory Is a Step toward Fascism.” The Guardian, 27 Mar. 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/27/trump-erasure-authoritarianism
• Trump, Donald J. “Executive Order on Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” The White House, 27 Mar. 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/
• Trump, Donald J. “Executive Order on Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism.” The White House, 20 Jan. 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/defending-women-from-gender-ideology-extremism-and-restoring-biological-truth-to-the-federal-government/
• Power 3.0. “Big Brother Is Teaching: Historical Revisionism and Censorship as Tools of Sharp Power.” Power 3.0 Blog, 23 June 2022. https://www.power3point0.org/2022/06/23/big-brother-is-teaching-historical-revisionism-and-censorship-as-tools-of-sharp-power/
• Wired. “Researchers Rush to Save Data on Trans Youth Before It Disappears.” Wired, Feb. 2025. https://www.wired.com/story/researchers-rush-to-save-data-on-trans-youth-before-it-disappears