Trump says that Smithsonian should portray the “brightness” of the United States, not “how bad slavery was”

President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that the White House is carrying out a review of the Smithsonian museums and expressed his frustration for his representation of dark parts of the history of the United States, including slavery.

“The Smithsonian is out of control, where everything that is discussed is how horrible our country is, how bad slavery was and how inaccessed have been oppressed, nothing about success, nothing about the brightness, nothing about the future,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.

“We are not going to allow this to happen, and I have ordered my lawyers to pass through the museums and begin exactly the same process that has been carried out with schools and universities where tremendous progress has been achieved,” Trump added. “This country cannot be awakened, because Wake is bankrupt. We have the ‘most popular’ country in the world, and we want people to talk about that, even in our museums.”

The Smithsonian declined to comment.

ABC News reported last week that the White House planned to make a widely review of the exhibitions and operations of the Smithsonian institution before the 250th anniversary of the United States next year.

In a letter sent to Lonnie Bunch, the secretary of the Smithsonian institution, the White House wrote that it wants to ensure that museums “reflect unity, progress and lasting values that define US history.”

When Trump visited the National Museum of African -American History and Culture in 2017, he had a different opinion about the discussion of slavery in the museum.

In his comments of that day, he praised Bunch, the current secretary of the Smithsonian, who was then the founding director of the National Museum of African -American History and Culture. Trump referred to the museum as “incredible”, “made with love” and a “truly great museum.”

He praised abolitionist figures Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. He even told a story he had learned about a fugitive slave. He called the Museum “a significant reminder of why we have to fight intolerance, intolerance and hatred in all its very ugly forms.”

It is said that the review of the White House focuses on eight museums, including the National Museum of History and Culture of African Americans, the National Museum of History of the United States, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of the American Indians, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Museum of Air and Space, the National Gallery of Portraits and the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garde Museum.

Trump signed an executive order in March ordering Vice President JD Vance and the Secretary of the Department of Interior, Doug Burgum, who “eliminates the inadequate ideology” of all areas of the Smithsonian.

Last week, ABC News visited the National Museum of National History of the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of History and Culture of African American, and took photographs of multiple exhibitions showed information and historical artifacts about slavery, segregation and movement of civil rights.

Averi Harper, Hannah Demissie and Emily Chang of ABC News contributed to this report.