Judge quotes Orwell’s 1984 as she orders Trump to restore slavery exhibits in Philadelphia

Judge compares president’s attempts to erase history to the dystopian Ministry of Truth NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsJudge quotes Orwell’s 1984 as she orders Trump to restore slavery exhibits in PhiladelphiaJudge compares president’s attempts to erase history to the dystopian Ministry of TruthAlex Woodward in New York Monday 16 February 2026 19:21 GMTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popoverHakeem Jeffries tears into Trump over racist Obamas video: 'f**k Donald Trump'Your support helps us to tell the storyRead moreSupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreA federal judge on Monday compared the Trump administration to George Orwell’s Ministry of Truth from 1984, quoting the fictional dystopian agency’s motto “Ignorance Is Strength” in her simmering order to restore all mentions of slavery that were removed from a Philadelphia landmark.In her ruling, District Judge Cynthia Rufe ordered the federal government to return all exhibit materials at Philadelphia’s President’s House on Independence Mall.“As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto ‘Ignorance is Strength,’ this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims — to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts,” she wrote Monday. “It does not.”In January, days before the beginning of Black History Month, the National Park Service removed any mention of slavery and all information about enslaved people who lived at the site.The removal followed President Donald Trump’s executive order “restoring truth and sanity to American history” at the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks, joining the administration’s sweeping efforts to sanitize or remove entirely from public view the nation’s history of enslavement.open image in galleryA federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore all mentions of slavery and enslaved people at a Philadelphia landmark that was the home of George Washington, where protesters have left notes demanding the return of materials on the now-empty slabs (AP)Trump’s executive order directed his administration to review the nation’s museums and historical sites that depict “founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.”As a result, several exhibits about the brutality of slavery and the nation’s legacy of injustice and fight for civil rights were removed.The president, meanwhile, issued a belated proclamation recognizing Black History Month, which begins February 1, with a statement that makes no mention of the fight to end enslavement or combat discrimination. Days later the president posted a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes.The president has also railed against the Smithsonian Institution for focusing on “how bad slavery was” instead of the “brightness” or “future” of America and threatened to pull federal funding from museums that “portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.”open image in galleryPanels that were part of an exhibit on slavery are now empty outside the President's House site in Philadelphia (AP)In a hearing last month, a lawyer for the Department of Justice argued that “the government gets to choose the message it wants to convey.”Judge Rufe, who was appointed by George W. Bush, sharply rebuked the government’s “dangerous” and “horrifying” arguments.“That is a dangerous statement you are making. It is horrifying to listen to,” she said at the time. “It changes on the whims of someone in charge? I’m sorry, that is not what we elected anybody for.”“You can’t erase history once you’ve learned it. It doesn’t work that way,” she said.open image in galleryCity officials and advocates sued the Trump administration as protests erupted over the removal of any mention of slavery from the site, part of the president’s sweeping, government-wide efforts to minimize the nation’s history of enslavement (AP)The President’s House in Pennsylvania, which is part of the Independence National Historical Park, commemorates the site of the first official presidential residence and the people who lived there,including people enslaved by Presi