The disturbing precedent for the White House’s list of ‘woke’ Smithsonian exhibits The list of purportedly radical exhibits Trump is targeting for removal outlines his revanchist view of American art and history.

Aug. 22, 2025, 3:20 PM EDT

By Ja'han Jones

In the late 1930s, Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels and his agents compiled a list of artworks they deemed “degenerate” and saw fit to purge. That list — which included works that acknowledged disabled people, that criticized the brutality of war, or interrogated Nazi fascism , or defied established gender roles — arguably offers a disturbing parallel to a new list of Smithsonian museum exhibits targeted by the Trump White House: Trump’s list, released Thursday, includes works that acknowledge disabled people o

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