Elena Goukassian, Smithsonian Institution and US National Gallery of Art close diversity offices following President Trump’s executive order, The Art Newspaper, 29 January 2025
A Trump executive order has led the largely government-funded institutions to roll back their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Among the flurry of executive orders signed by the new US president Donald Trump on the day of his inauguration (20 January) is one titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing”. The order, calling diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes “illegal and immoral”, immediately led to the shutdown of federal DEI offices, and their staff were placed on leave as a precursor to being eventually laid off. The order has also affected federally funded museums—the Smithsonian Institution and Washington, DC’s National Gallery of Art (NGA) have closed their diversity offices.
