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12h ago

White House Pressures Smithsonian on U.S. History Displays, Signals Wider Museum Review

Funding threats tied to top‑down mandates, critics warn, risk politicizing curation.

Protest signs from a selection of historic demonstrations are displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Aug. 13, 2025, representing the causes of anti-war and civil rights activists, the tea party, farmers and other populist movements. (AP Photo/River Zhang)
A “Fight the Virus, Not the People” COVID-19 banner at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History on Aug. 13, 2025. The banner was carried by counter-protesters at an anti-Asian hate march in San Francisco in February 2020. It is the museum’s most recent collection related to the pandemic. (AP Photo/River Zhang)
An updated display at Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History traces the history of presidential impeachments, Aug. 26, 2025. References to President Donald Trump’s two impeachment trials were removed in July and restored in August with revisions that still describe his House impeachments and Senate acquittals on counts of inciting an insurrection, abusing power and obstructing Congress.” (AP Photo/Calvin Woodward)
This wall in the “Great Debate” section of a democracy exhibit at the National Museum of American History, shown Aug. 26, 2025, in Washington, reflects some of the issues the nation grapples with. President Donald Trump is pressing for changes in the stories the Smithsonian museums tell about America. He wants U.S. history cast in a more positive light. (AP Photo/Calvin Woodward)

Overview

  • At the National Museum of American History, exhibits continue to present both national achievements and painful chapters, from the Star‑Spangled Banner and Edison bulbs to slavery shackles and Japanese American detention photos.
  • References to President Trump’s two impeachments were removed for updating in July and restored this month with new labels noting the dates, charges and Senate acquittals.
  • Trump has criticized Smithsonian museums for emphasizing negative aspects of the past and has threatened to withhold federal funding if narratives are not changed.
  • A White House official told Axios that the administration plans to expand its review of museums for so‑called “woke” ideology beyond the Smithsonian and that attorneys were directed to conduct a comprehensive review.
  • The U.S. Department of Education is threatening to pull federal funding from public schools that keep DEI programs or certain Black history books under a Trump executive order, drawing warnings from historians that such moves could distort scholarship.