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Oversight or Overreach? The Trump Administration Seeks Discretionary Control of Smithsonian Exhibits and Research

  • Human Rights Research Center
  • 1 day ago
  • 12 min read

Author: Lily Marino

April 9, 2026


The newly installed placard identifying President Trump in the presidential hall of the National Portrait Gallery. The outline of the previous plaque remains on the wall, though it is faint. [Image source: The Washington Post]
The newly installed placard identifying President Trump in the presidential hall of the National Portrait Gallery. The outline of the previous plaque remains on the wall, though it is faint. [Image source: The Washington Post]

Over the last twelve months, the Trump Administration demonstrated its desire to exert strict editorial control over the museum displays and related work of the Smithsonian Institution. The Administration began its attempts to control the Smithsonian Institution first via an executive order signed in March 2025 that declared the White House would be taking steps to review and remove “improper ideology” from the museums.[1] Over the course of the following ten months, two public letters were sent from the White House to the Secretary of the Smithsonian. While this is not the first time that a sitting U.S. president has sought to change specific public installations, this instance is unique in that the Trump Administration has consistently struggled to clarify what material it deems acceptable versus unacceptable. The White House’s use of subjective terms such as “un-American” and “improper” rather than any specific standards of historical or scientific relevance creates the opportunity for biased and overtly political decision-making.[2] The actions of this Administration have resulted in public backlash due to the American people’s perception of the Trump Administration’s attempt to exert total control over information publicized as scientific or historical truth.


The Smithsonian Institution was founded in 1846 as the result of a willed charitable bequest to the United States, creating it as a trust instrumentality. This status allows the Institution to operate independently under the direction of its own Board of Regents in spite of being funded primarily[3] by the Federal government.[4] The Smithsonian Institution was founded with a mission to create an “establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”[5] 180 years later, this guiding mission has evolved to mean a dedication to the education and engagement of all, serving American citizens, but also the many international visitors who come through the museums each year. Smithsonian leadership has continually asserted that the Institution’s identity independent from any given political administration is crucial for a continued commitment to the pursuit of knowledge rather than persuasion.[6] Today, the Smithsonian Institution moniker represents a conglomeration of 21 museums, hundreds of local affiliates across 49 U.S. states and territories, and the National Zoo.[7] It propels American research, education, and historical preservation not just through the content available within the various museums, but by providing free educational resources for teachers, parents, and individuals; hosting lectures, workshops, and panels; and putting on professional development programming.[8]Individual museums within the Institution pursue research specific to their specialization, and the Institute also includes separate research centers doing leading work on topics like astrophysics and tropical biology.[9]


Both its explicit teaching function and the additional prestige and legitimacy lent to information presented by the Smithsonian Institution lend influence to the American public’s perception of its own identity. For example, the artifacts included in the Smithsonian’s “American Revolution” digital collection[10] might decide which aspects of the Revolutionary War a sixth-grade teacher chooses to focus on in their instruction, or perhaps shape the perception of an adult looking to fill in gaps in their own education. The exhibit that includes the Greensboro “whites only” lunch counter and its stools from the 1960 student sit-in protests gives a uniquely poignant introduction to the segregation that plagued America less than 75 years ago.[11] The choices made about the exhibits and research of the Smithsonian Institution’s various museums and educational centers can help to inform Americans about their country and its place in the world. President Trump himself recognizes that the Institution is a critical symbol of “American excellence and a global icon of cultural achievement," influencing both the American public and international opinion.[12] It is this important influence that makes any incursion on the Institution’s position as an independent educational service for the people, as opposed to an arm of the government, worthy of note. A public that only knows the truth from its government will never have the necessary information to hold its government accountable.


Executive Order 14253 “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” claims that, over the course of the last ten years, America’s historical legacy and identity have been overshadowed by an inappropriate focus on some of its flaws, namely the nation’s pervasive issues with racism and discrimination.[13] Without explicitly naming it, the Executive Order (EO) refers to Diversity-Equity-Inclusion programming, counter-history research, and other attempts to actively acknowledge institutionalized discrimination and mistreatment of minority groups. President Trump decreed that the White House’s representatives would review various installations throughout the various Smithsonian museums for “improper ideology” to counter the sense of national shame that he claims is being fostered by the current displays. However, the language in the EO never clearly defines what “improper ideology” means. The EO explicitly prohibits the Office of Management and Budget from dispersing federal money to build displays that “degrade shared American values,” “divide Americans based on race,” or “recognize men as women in any respect,” with the latter being an attempt to remove reference to transgender individuals in exhibits. The open-ended nature of “shared American values” essentially allows for the Administration to argue for the removal of any given piece of art, history, or science by claiming that it counters their perception of this ideal.[14]


Alarmingly, the letters, which show direct communication from the Administration to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, Hon. Lonnie G. Bunch III, did very little to clarify what is permissible and what is not. The August letterestablished that this Administration would conduct a review of all public-facing content from eight of the most prominent Washington, D.C.-based Smithsonian museums,[15] with special attention being paid to content being developed for the benefit of “America 250” programming, an effort led by the Federal government to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Secretary Bunch was informed that educational material, digital resources, and descriptive displays of the collections would all be subject to scrutiny, but not what would constitute an unacceptable finding.[16] In addition to public-facing products, administrative and managerial aspects such as the curatorial process and the external use of Smithsonian collections would also be examined.[17] In spite of this extensive request for information, the letter included no further enumeration of what qualities the White House team would be flagging to enforce a “focus on Americanism.”[18] Similar to EO 14253, “Americanism” is left with no further definition, making it a flexible standard, known only to the Administration. The absence of a public standard makes it impossible for anyone, be it the public or other branches of the government, to know whether judgments were made fairly or on a whim of those in power. 


The second letter, sent about nine months after the first, chastised the Smithsonian Institution for its insufficient compliance with the requests laid out in the March letter. The December letter argued that “the American people will have no patience for any museum that is diffident about America’s founding or otherwise uncomfortable conveying a positive view of American history.”[19] Once again, the bulk of the letter was logistical. Rather than provide a clearer picture of the type of content the administration was worried about, this letter reasserted the Administration’s insistence on reviewing all museum content for compliance with their ideological standards. Furthermore, in a departure from the ideological persuasion of the first letter, the second letter reminded the Institution’s staff that a majority of the Smithsonian’s budget could be held as a bargaining chip if there was not prompt cooperation. Although budget allocation is handed by Congress, once the funds have been distributed, their use is directed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). As a component of the federal bureaucracy, this department is under the direction of the President. This allows the White House to enforce compliance with all presidential executive orders, including EO 14253, by withholding funding.


The use of an open financial threat to encourage the Institution’s compliance with the Administration’s directives highlights the unique, unorthodox relationship developing between the Trump Administration and the Smithsonian. The force with which the Trump Administration claimed to have power over an Institution traditionally legitimized through its independence from the political nature of governance raises broader questions about how democracy is influenced when a leader gets to choose which parts of a nation’s history are appropriate for public consumption. In the 150+ years since the Smithsonian Institution was founded, there have been a few other external reviews of Smithsonian content. For example, the Smithsonian faced pressure by the Nixon administration to remove an exhibit on voting rights in 1971 and to add an exhibit advocating the redirection of national resources. The exhibit was so divisive that it served as an effective warning against intentionally political curation for over fifty years.[20] However, none have ever been as far-reaching or sustained as the attempts of President Trump’s Administration.[21]


The most explicit use of executive pressure in this case came when President Trump attempted to pave the way for his content review by replacing two museum directors he deemed particularly egregious. He fired the Head Archivist at the National Archives, the organization that handles presidential record-keeping. The President has distrusted Archives leadership since their involvement in regaining custody of the presidential records kept at Mar-a-Lago in 2021.[22]President Trump also announced that he had fired the director of the National Portrait Gallery, Kim Sajet. This instance came amidst arguments from the President about the information describing his portrait in the gallery of Presidential Portraits housed at the National Portrait Gallery. However, in this second case, the Smithsonian Board of Regents disputed the President’s right to do so and asserted that it retained the right to make personnel decisions. The fight simmered down when Sajet resigned voluntarily.[23]


The structure of the Smithsonian Board of Regents has also become a battleground of attempted executive force under the current Administration. It statutorily includes both Vice President Vance, whom the President has explicitly identified as the administration’s primary representative on this project,[24] and Chief Justice Roberts of the United States Supreme Court. Both of these men are on the board in an ex officio capacity, meaning as a function of their office. The board also includes six regents chosen from sitting members of the US Congress, and nine citizen regents, nominated and confirmed by Congress.[25] The presence of the Vice President and the Chief Justice on the Board of Regents already represents two of the three branches of government. When taken together with the fact that the President already applied political pressure to both the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader, both also Republicans, to ensure that nominees to the board are “committed to advancing the policy” of EO 14253.[26] The result is pressure on and from all three supposedly separate branches of the US government to consolidate power behind the executive’s vision of American identity.


Predictably, responses across various sectors of the American public have been alarmed at the presidential overreach into what should be an apolitical institution. The American Historical Association, for example, argued that to remove unflattering aspects of American history would undercut one of the most critical functions of historical education and engagement. As they put it, “Patriotic history celebrates our nation’s many great achievements. It also helps us grapple with the less grand and more painful parts of our history. Both are part of a shared past that is fundamentally American.”[27] Congresswoman Pressley of Massachusetts and Congressman Tonko of New York, who serve as the Co-Chairs of the Congressional Museum Caucus, submitted a letter signed by 69 other U.S. Representatives to the Inspector General of the Smithsonian Institution that argued against the Executive Order, stating that asking national museums representing African American and Latino culture to restrict their content away from divisive racial content is both “ironic and self-defeating.”[28] The same argument can be made about American history in general. In a country propelled through many of its major periods due to race-based conflict, avoiding “divisive racial content” is just another way to write many of the most fundamental American stories about the narrative.


Public watchdog power has also proven itself to be a prominent player in a circumstance where all three branches of government are experiencing pressure to forcibly influence American identity. An organization called the “Citizen Historians for the Smithsonian,” which is staffed entirely by volunteers interested in ensuring that any resulting changes to the presentation of history within the Smithsonian museums are appropriately documented. The project was developed to ensure that the American public would still have access to the independently curated and developed contents of the Smithsonian museums as they were before this process began.[29] Ideally, it would ensure that historical and scientific truths are not lost to politically motivated revision. The organization also tracks exhibit changes in a way that is accessible to the public. The website makes it easy to see, for example, the fact that the only substantive change that the Smithsonian has enacted as of February 10, 2026, is the removal of language detailing President Trump’s impeachments at the National Portrait Gallery.[30]


The Smithsonian’s charter asserts that all its museums and research centers are meant to operate independently of the government, something that the Smithsonian leadership remains staunchly defending.[31] In spite of governmental pressure, the virtues of a reliable public history as contained in our public institutions have not yet vanished from American consciousness. The Smithsonians are astounding public resources for education, preservation, and enjoyment; they are not tools to allow any given administration to reshape the landscape of publicly understood truth to fit their narrative. Compliance with an undefined “Americanism” and a restriction to only positive history is a dangerous step towards intentional historical erasure and must be carefully guarded.

 

Glossary


  • Affiliate: an organization that is a member of a larger organization 

  • Apolitical: having no interest or involvement in political affairs 

  • Artifact: something characteristic of or resulting from a particular human institution, period, trend, or individual

  • Astrophysics: a branch of astronomy, the study of objects and matter outside the Earth’s atmosphere, dealing especially with the behavior, physical properties, and dynamic processes of celestial objects and phenomena 

  • Bargaining Chip: a tangible or intangible asset, concession, or advantage offered during negotiations to influence the other party, gain leverage, and secure a favorable deal

  • Bureaucracy: a body of non-elected officials who do the administrative work of running a government; it is characterized by specialization of functions, adherence to fixed rules, and a hierarchy of authority 

  • Board of Regents: a governing body appointed to supervise an educational institution. This group is responsible for the overall management, policy-making, and strategic direction. 

  • Caucus: a group of people united to promote an agreed-upon cause or policy. In this case, it refers to an organized group within the United States Congress 

  • Chastise: to harshly criticize for wrongdoing 

  • Conglomeration: a process in which different things come together to form a single thing or an identifiable group 

  • Counter-History: a theory within historical research that has gained traction in the late 1990s and 2000s, which seeks to reinvestigate already examined historical materials to uncover traditions and perspectives that have been erased or overlooked by traditional historical narratives. Often, it is used to elaborate on the narratives of suppressed populations and minorities. 

  • Curatorial Process: the strategic, research-driven method of selecting, organizing, and presenting objects, artworks, or information to create a coherent narrative, experience, or learning moment for an audience

  • Degrade: to lower to an inferior or less effective level

  • Diffident: hesitant in acting or speaking due to a lack of self-confidence; unassertive 

  • Diffusion: the action of being spread out or transmitted, especially by contact 

  • Discretionary: left to individual choice or judgement

  • Diversity-Equity-Inclusion (DEI) Programming: intended to be a framework for building institutions where everyone, regardless of identity and circumstances, is able to thrive while addressing systematic barriers that have historically excluded marginalized communities

  • Divisive: causing significant disagreement, often leading to the separation of people into different groups 

  • Egregious: glaringly bad 

  • Enumeration: the act or process of making or stating a list of things one after another 

  • Exhibit: a collection of objects and information shown publicly, in this case, in a museum for the purposes of education and preservation

  • Ex Officio: denoting or relating to a member of a body who holds the role as a result of their status or another position that they hold

  • Ideology: the content of thinking characteristic of an individual, group, or culture; a systematic body of concepts about life or culture 

  • Ironic: relating to, containing, or constituting irony, defined as an incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result

  • Legacy: an object or identity transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past

  • Permissible: allowable

  • Pervasive: existing in or spreading through every part of something

  • Poignant: deeply affecting, touching, causing a strong feeling

  • Sanity: the quality or state of being sane; soundness or health of mind 

  • Scrutiny: a searching study, inquiry, or inspection; examination 

  • Segregation: the separation or isolation of a race, class, or ethnic group by enforced or voluntary residence in a restricted area, by barriers to social participation, by separate educational facilities, or by other discriminatory means. In this case, the term refers specifically to the period in American history from the end of the Reconstruction period (late 19th century) until the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. 

  • Statutorily: by law; written into the statute 

  • Staunchly: in a steadfastly loyal or principled manner

  • Tropical Biology: the study of the natural world, including soils, plants, animals, and ecological interactions, within tropical regions

  • Trust Instrumentality: a government-created entity designed to manage a public trust or specific public function with a unique legal status wherein they operate independently but under federal authority.[32]

  • Unorthodox: different from established or conventional doctrine, practices, customs, or opinions

  • Watchdog power: the ability of an individual, organization, or media outlet to closely monitor the actions of those in power to hold them accountable for their decisions and behavior. 

    Whim: a sudden wish, desire, or decision, often without justification


References/Footnotes


[3] 62% of Smithsonian operating budget comes from federal appropriations.

[15] The National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the national Museum of the American Indian, the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

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