Ever since he returned to the White House in 2025, President Trump has sought to gain control of the Smithsonian Institution, aiming to limit its independence and mold it into what he has described as a “symbol of inspiration and American greatness.”
In an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” issued on March 27, 2025, Mr. Trump made it clear that he believes the Smithsonian, which includes 21 museums, libraries, research centers and the National Zoo, portrays “American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive,” in part by focusing too much on race.
In the last year, his administration has demanded a comprehensive review of exhibitions at some Smithsonian museums, and on Saturday — the nation’s 250th anniversary — it issued a scathing report accusing the National Museum of American History of anti-white bias and of distorting the nation’s founding.
Here is a timeline of the pressure campaign against the Smithsonian.
January 2025
Smithsonian Closes Diversity Offices
After Mr. Trump issued an executive order calling the Biden administration’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives “illegal and immoral discrimination,” the Smithsonian shut its Office of Diversity. The secretary of the Smithsonian, Lonnie G. Bunch III, described this as a “first step” in addressing the new federal policy.
March 2025
Trump Orders Smithsonian to Promote ‘American Greatness’
In his executive order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” Mr. Trump criticized what he called a “revisionist movement” across the United States that undermines the country’s achievements by “casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.” The order claimed that the Smithsonian had “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology” that promotes “narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.”
Mr. Trump called on Vice President JD Vance to work with Congress to prohibit expenditures on exhibitions or programs that “degrade shared American values, divide Americans by race or promote ideologies inconsistent with federal law.”
May 2025
Director of National Portrait Gallery Resigns
After Mr. Trump announced that he had fired the director of the National Portrait Gallery, Kim Sajet — calling her “highly partisan” and a “strong supporter of DEI” — the Smithsonian publicly insisted that it controlled personnel matters. Ms. Sajet later stepped down, saying her resignation was best for the Smithsonian.
July 2025
Reference to Trump’s Impeachments Removed
The National Museum of American History removed a label referring to Mr. Trump’s impeachments in 2019 and 2021. The removal came after the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents committed itself to reviewing the museum’s content under pressure from the administration.
August 2025
White House Announces Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions
In a letter to Mr. Bunch, the White House said it would conduct a sweeping review of current and planned exhibitions at eight Smithsonian museums; wall text, websites and social media would be assessed for “tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals.” Museums were required to make changes within 120 days.
The next month, Mr. Bunch said in a letter that the institution maintained “authority over our programming and content” but agreed to set up a team to review turning over materials to the White House.
August 2025
Trump Calls Smithsonian ‘Out of Control’
In a social media post, Mr. Trump said the Smithsonian was “out of control.”
“Everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future,” he wrote.
August 2025
White House Lists Exhibits It Finds Objectionable
The Trump administration published a list of roughly two dozen Smithsonian exhibits, programming and artwork that it saw as problematic. It included a series at the National Museum of African American History and Culture designed to educate visitors about whiteness and white culture; a drawing depicting migrants watching Independence Day fireworks through a hole in the U.S.-Mexico border wall; and a papier-mâché Statue of Liberty holding a basket of tomatoes.
December 2025
White House Scolds the Smithsonian
The Trump administration admonished the Smithsonian in a letter for not turning over all of the documents it had demanded.
In January, Mr. Bunch said the institution had submitted additional materials, including digital photographs of labels, placards and other text on public display in several galleries, to be “transparent and open.”
February 2026
White House Suggests Trump Display
During a tour of the National Portrait Gallery, White House officials suggested accompanying Mr. Trump’s official portrait with a display of other images of him.
The president receives artwork “from patriotic Americans all across our great country, and it is important to the People’s President that their creations are showcased,” the White House said in a statement.
July 2026
White House Condemns American History Museum
In a 162-page report published on America’s 250th birthday, the White House accused the National Museum of American History of failing to properly celebrate the nation’s heritage. The report asserted that by embracing anti-white bias, and minimizing and distorting the nation’s founding, the museum had shifted its mission “from straightforward historical education and scholarship toward an extreme political activism that seeks to transform our country.”
The museum, the report claimed, uses the country’s history as “a political instrument to divide, dispirit and discourage our citizens.”
