Following Donald Trump's executive order of 20 January declaring diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives unlawful, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., has cancelled two exhibitions devoted to art…

The first, "Before America", was a group show devoted to the transatlantic slave trade and the African diaspora, featuring work by contemporary Afro-Latin American, Caribbean and African American artists. Museum staff reported that the Trump administration had withdrawn funding from the exhibition, due to open on 21 March after four years of work, on the grounds that it was a "DEI programme and event".

The museum has also put a cross through "Wild Life with Andil Gosine", an exhibition exploring ecology, sexuality, human rights, queer theory and colonial law in the Caribbean. Gosine, a Canadian artist and curator who grew up in Trinidad, said that the cancellation was connected with the order in which Trump instructed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to review relations with international organisations receiving US funding