President Trump waves to reporters after returning to the White House from a golf club on the 5th (local time). [Yonhap News] 

With the midterm elections approaching this November, U.S. President Donald Trump is ratcheting up his ideological and cultural offensive, labeling the Democratic party as "communist" and releasing a White House report that directly targets the exhibits of major American museums.

Analysts suggest this is an electoral strategy aimed at framing the midterms as an ideological battle following the recent rise of democratic socialist factions within the Democratic Party. By positioning himself as the defender of traditional American values, Trump aims to consolidate his base and appeal to moderate voters.

On the night of the 4th (local time), the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, the White House Domestic Policy Council released a report titled "Saving American History." The report strongly criticized the National Museum of American History (NMAH) under the Smithsonian Institution—which manages various national museums and galleries—accusing it of promoting a distorted view of history and inappropriate ideologies.

In the report, the Council noted that the museum "no longer treats the American story as a shared national heritage to be taught or celebrated, but has explicitly adopted an ideological framework that serves as a political tool to divide, demoralize, and discourage its citizens."

The report also stated, "According to the museum's current narrative, America is defined above all else by white supremacy, slavery, conquest, exclusion, class, racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and systemic injustice."

The Council further claimed that the museum has been "institutionally captured by radical activist ideologies that are fundamentally opposed to conveying the noble and honest history of the great American nation."

It emphasized, "Museums should teach the history of the American nation—a history worth cherishing and passing on to future generations."

This report was prepared in accordance with President Trump’s executive order to review the historical exhibition practices of the Smithsonian Institution and its affiliated agencies.

President Trump has consistently criticized the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibitions and academic activities, claiming they are biased toward the "woke" agenda of the progressive camp, which opposes racial and LGBTQ discrimination.

The fact that the committee released the report on the very day of the 250th anniversary is interpreted as reflecting President Trump's intent to rewrite historical narratives.

In particular, the assertion that the museum has been ideologically captured by activists is noteworthy.

This can be seen not merely as a critique of exhibition content, but as an attempt to stoke a sense of crisis among conservative supporters by highlighting the perception that American historical and cultural institutions have been infiltrated by the radical left.

Trump giving a speech on the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding [EPA=Yonhap News file photo]

President Trump has also recently used speeches to emphasize an ideological frame by equating democratic socialism, which is gaining traction within the Democratic Party, with communism.

In his speech on the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding in Washington D.C. the previous day, President Trump declared, "Communism is a loser and always will be," adding, "It is like a cancer, and it must be cut out quickly."

He further stated, "The communist system is the exact opposite of the American system, and the communist system has never worked," declaring, "America will never be a communist country."

A day earlier, in a speech at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, President Trump also remarked, "There is a new far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance... We will not let them win. They cannot defeat us."

Such actions by President Trump are interpreted as a strategy to seize the initiative in the election by framing the contest not as a Republican-versus-Democrat battle, but as an ideological war of "traditional American values versus communism," particularly as his approval ratings remain on a downward trend.

Analysts suggest that by linking the recent success of democratic socialist candidates in Democratic primaries to the radicalization of the entire Democratic Party, Trump is also calculating that he can capture not only his core Republican base but also moderate voters.

However, critics point out that equating democratic socialism with communism, as President Trump does, is inaccurate.

Democratic socialism seeks to expand social safety nets, increase taxes on the wealthy, and tighten corporate regulation within the framework of democracy and a market economy, whereas communism fundamentally differs in its goal to abolish private property and implement a centrally planned economy.