The order came down late in the evening, when the orangutans, lions, and crocodiles would be resting. The next morning, March 28, the animals awoke to a new political reality: The world's most powerful man had taken an acute interest in their place of lodging, the National Zoo. President Donald Trump had directed Vice President J. D. Vance to rid the Smithsonian Institution of all 'improper ideology.' As a ward of the Smithsonian, the zoo was not only covered by this mandate; it was specifically mentioned as one of the facilities to be cleansed of wrongthink. Trump's order leaves little mystery about what he wants changed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and its National Museum of African American History and Culture. It calls for the removal of 'divisive,' 'race-centered ideology' from those museums, and says that their exhibits should instead instill pride 'in the hearts of all Americans.' But the order's text is silent on the nature of the zoo's...
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