Sean Salai | June 27, 2025

(The Washington Times) — The Department of Education has tapped conservative media platform PragerU to tell the nation’s origin story in an “America 250” exhibit that opened in the White House complex this month.

The PragerU Founders Museum on the first floor of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building features 82 historical paintings of people and events from the American Revolution to inspire patriotic fervor for the yearlong celebration of the July 4, 1776, signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Each painting includes a QR code linking to a short PragerU video or essay on the White House website. Online content includes artificial intelligence-generated talking figures coming to life from the paintings, such as the 56 men who signed the Declaration on July 4, 1776, and a written recap of the decisive Battle of Yorktown in 1781.

“President Trump is championing the spirit of patriotism in our country,” said Liz Huston, a White House spokeswoman. “The Founders Museum is an innovative way for schools and community centers to encourage Americans to reflect on the pivotal moments and people that shaped our nation into one that values courage, hard work, and freedom.”

Ms. Huston said the in-person exhibit is open to all White House staff, guests and anyone who attends executive branch meetings. Others can download the entire exhibit on the White House and PragerU websites.

The Trump administration did not say how much it paid for the exhibit or how long it would run. An Education Department spokesperson referred questions to PragerU.

The partnership with PragerU, which is not a university, boosts the museum’s virtual reach considerably. According to the company, its short videos on American history and politics have drawn more than 11 billion views since conservative talk show host Dennis Prager founded it in 2009.

PragerU CEO Marissa Streit told The Washington Times that the Trump administration chose her company because of its “proven ability to make American history engaging, accurate, fair and accessible for all learners.”

She did not say how much the exhibit cost. A company spokesperson said “some very generous PragerU donors” funded the exhibit, which will be duplicated at upcoming events and conferences for the nation’s 250th birthday.

“While not everyone can visit the exhibit in person at the White House grounds, we’re thrilled to make the experience accessible to all Americans through PragerU.com and the White House’s America 250 website,” Ms. Streit said.

Social justice advocates, however, said the inclusion of PragerU reflects a Trump administration agenda to whitewash history. They say the exhibit fails to acknowledge the experiences of marginalized racial minorities, women and gay people during the revolution.

“This [exhibit] promotes a limited view of all that America is, was, and will be,” said Robert Kesten, executive director of Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library, an LGBTQ historical preservation group. “It shortchanges us and ignores all the progress we have made historically and academically.”

Omekongo Dibinga, a professor of intercultural communications affiliated with American University’s Antiracist Research and Policy Center, said PragerU videos aim to make White people “not feel guilty about history.”

“PragerU’s videos are ignorant and disrespectful,” Mr. Dibinga said. “The goal of this partnership is to accelerate the erasure of non-White male history and use PragerU’s 3.37 million followers to spread their propaganda.”