The White House will take a more active role in shaping programming at the Smithsonian Institution, according to a letter sent to the institution’s leader Lonnie G. Bunch on Tuesday (12 August).
A ”comprehensive internal review”, according to the letter, will aim “to ensure alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions”, language that echoes an executive order that US President Donald Trump signed in March.
The letter informs Bunch that the review will initially focus on eight Smithsonian museums: the National Museum of American History, National Museum of Natural History, National Museum of African American History and Culture, National Museum of the American Indian, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Portrait Gallery (NPG) and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The letter’s language leaves open the possibility that the review could be extended to the Smithsonian’s remaining 13 museums and the National Zoo.
The letter is signed by the White House senior associate Lindsey Halligan; the director of the domestic policy council, Vince Haley; and the director of the office of management and budget, Russ Vought—all of whom are also listed as assistants to the president. They write that the review’s goal is “not to interfere with the day-to-day operations of curators or staff”.
They then give each targeted museum an extensive list of materials to supply and interviews to plan within 30-, 75- and 120-day deadlines. The internal review, they write, will focus on “public-facing content” (seemingly all digital, educational, didactic and printed texts), curatorial processes, exhibition planning, collection management and “narrative standards”.
The letter outlines ten categories of materials that museums will need to provide, covering everything from planned programming to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States next year to inventories of their entire permanent collections and exhibition schedules for the next three years.
By the final 120-day deadline, the letter states, the museums will be expected to “begin implementing content corrections where necessary, replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate and constructive descriptions”. The letter concludes by mandating a focus on “Americanism”, which it defines as “the people, principles and progress that define our nation”.
In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, a spokesperson for the Smithsonian said: “We are reviewing the letter with this commitment in mind and will continue to collaborate constructively with the White House, Congress and our governing Board of Regents.” The spokesperson added: “The Smithsonian’s work is grounded in a deep commitment to scholarly excellence, rigorous research, and the accurate, factual presentation of history.”
In his executive order on 27 March aimed at reshaping the Smithsonian, Trump singled out three specific museums under the institution’s banner: the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the forthcoming American Women’s History Museum. Since then he has also targeted the NPG, even attempting to fire its director Kim Sajet in May (she resigned two weeks later).
Subsequently the artist Amy Sherald cancelled the NPG installment of her travelling survey exhibition, claiming the museum had sought to remove her painting Trans Forming Liberty (2024)—a portrait of a non-binary transgender person posing as the Statue of Liberty—to avoid a feared confrontation with the Trump administration.
The Smithsonian receives around 53% of its overall funding from the federal government. For the fiscal year 2024 its total appropriation was $1.09bn, a 4.7% drop from the previous year.
