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| A State Department sign is seen outside the Harry S. Truman Federal Building in Washington, D.C., July 11, 2025. |
The State Department is removing all posts made before President Trump returned to office on Jan. 20, 2025, from its public accounts on the social media platform X.
While the posts will be archived internally, they will no longer be accessible to the public, the State Department confirmed to NPR. Staff were informed that anyone seeking access to older posts would need to submit a Freedom of Information Act request, according to a State Department employee who spoke on condition of anonymity due to concerns about retaliation from the Trump administration. This approach differs from how the U.S. government has traditionally preserved and provided access to the online records of prior administrations.
The move follows broader efforts by the Trump administration to remove large amounts of information from government websites that run counter to the president’s views, including environmental and public health data, as well as references to women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. The administration has also taken down signage at national parks referencing slavery and removed mentions of Trump’s impeachments and presidency from the National Portrait Gallery.
The White House has additionally promoted a revisionist account of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and replaced federal coronavirus resource websites with a page titled “Lab Leak: The True Origins of Covid-19.