What was the controversy surrounding The Scourged Back in September 2025?

On March 27, 2025, U.S. Pres. Donald Trump issued an executive order—Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History—in which he tasked the secretary of the interior, Doug Burgum, with the evaluation of interpretive displays within the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. In September 2025 The Washington Post reported that some National Parks Service-administered sites were asked to remove The Scourged Back from exhibition content as part of this evaluation. An Interior Department representative publicly denied The Post’s claim, saying, “I can confirm that NPS sites were not asked to remove the photo. If any interpretive materials are found to have been removed or altered prematurely or in error, the Department will review the circumstances and take corrective action as appropriate.”