Smithsonian pushes back on White House report labeling it ‘extreme’
The Smithsonian Institution has responded to the White House’s 162-page document released over the July Fourth holiday weekend criticizing the group and the National Museum of American History for “extreme political activism.”
In a letter obtained by The Washington Post, Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch wrote to staff members that he and other officials were still reviewing the White House’s document and said it “is not a fair characterization of the work and totality” of the museum.
“At the Smithsonian, our work is driven by scholarship, accuracy, and an uncompromising commitment to tell the fullness of America’s story,” Bunch wrote.
What did the White House’s report say?
The White House’s report, titled Saving America’s Story, claimed the National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian had a “broad pattern” of targeting “traditional patriotic narratives,” saying those stories are “treated with suspicion, if not outright contempt.”
“The basic symbols and stories that once helped unify Americans are presented not as reasons for gratitude and inspiration, but as objects to be inherently questioned, dismantled, ‘problematized,’ and reinterpreted to achieve ideological ends,” the report says.
The Trump administration also claims that the museum exhibited educational materials on gender identity and what it called “Anti-White Activism,” as Straight Arrow previously reported.
The White House also alleged that the museum created a hiring initiative for numerous groups but not for white people, Christians, men or Americans.
How did the Smithsonian respond?
Before The Post released the internal email, the Smithsonian had offered little response to the Trump administration’s report. On Sunday, the institution released a statement saying, “the Smithsonian has served the American public with nonpartisan and independent scholarship,” and that it would “remain committed to doing so.”
In his email, Bunch commended his staff across all the museums, calling them “public servants and the keepers of this institution” who “are charged with helping a nation find understanding, hope, and clarity.”
“We remain focused on what grounds us: a steadfast commitment to scholarship, nonpartisanship, independence, accuracy, and integrity,” Bunch wrote. “For nearly 180 years, the Smithsonian has worked alongside partners across government … guided by our enduring mission to increase and diffuse knowledge.”
Many groups, including the American Historical Association, have come out in support of the Smithsonian. Sarah Weicksel, the association’s executive director, previously told Straight Arrow the report’s underlying assumption that patriotism requires unified agreement on the past doesn’t hold up against the historical records.
“The founders themselves found common purpose amid multiple divisions and conflicts,” Weicksel said. “They and subsequent generations of Americans embraced a patriotism that was capacious enough to include both praise and criticism, challenging us to more fully embody as a nation those ideals set out in our founding documents.”
Could Trump change the Smithsonian?
Since the Smithsonian is not a federal agency, Trump doesn’t have the authority to directly change who runs it. But he does have a few cards he could play.
The Smithsonian is a public-private trust run by a Board of Regents. The board is made up of several members, including the vice president, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, three senators, three House members and nine congressionally appointed citizen regents.
While Trump can’t fire Bunch, he, along with Congress, controls who fills open seats. In April, The Art Newspaper reported that the board was down to 15 members. The outlet claimed that the lack of new nominations for the roles was an attempt to exert greater control over the institution.
The White House’s report also followed a March 2025 executive order, which ordered Vice President JD Vance to investigate and remove any “improper ideology” from the Smithsonian and to deny funding to exhibitions that “degrade shared American values.”
The board has pushed back on the allegations that it’s partisan, saying it’s committed to ensuring the Smithsonian remains “free from political or partisan influence.”
“The Board of Regents will continue its vigilant, independent oversight of the Smithsonian and its museums to protect their rigorous scholarship and expertise, nonpartisanship, and accuracy, and ensure that the Smithsonian is welcoming to all Americans,” the board wrote in a June 2025 press release.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
