Trump Targets the Smithsonian with Executive Order to Erase ‘Divisive’ History

Since retaking office this January, President Donald Trump has unleashed a barrage of executive orders targeting everything from trade to immigration. But one of the most alarming moves is his March executive order aimed squarely at the Smithsonian Institution, the sprawling network of 21 museums and research centers that includes some of the country’s most visited cultural landmarks.

The order, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” accuses the Smithsonian of pushing a “divisive, race-centered ideology” that allegedly fosters “national shame.” Trump singled out exhibitions like the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s “The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture” and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) for portraying American history through a critical lens focused on race and power dynamics.

This is not just a culture war stunt. The Smithsonian, while not a federal agency, receives significant government funding and is overseen by a Board of Regents that includes top government officials such as the Vice President and members of Congress. Trump has deputized Vice President JD Vance to work with Congress to ensure future funding continues—but only on Trump’s terms, which means stripping away any narratives that challenge a sanitized, glorified version of America’s past.

Under Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, the institution has pushed to diversify its galleries and tell stories long ignored by mainstream history. Bunch, who founded the NMAAHC, has championed highlighting Black, Latinx, Asian American, and other underrepresented voices in American art and history. The Smithsonian also has plans for museums dedicated to women’s and Latino history—efforts that now hang in the balance.

Even before the executive order, the Smithsonian had already folded its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices in response to pressure from the Trump administration, signaling a chilling effect on cultural institutions that dare to confront systemic racism and inequality.

While the Smithsonian can still rely on private donations, the threat of government defunding and political interference looms large. This executive order is part of a broader authoritarian pattern: using government power to rewrite history, silence dissent, and erase uncomfortable truths about race and power in America.

We cannot let Trump’s administration whitewash the past and weaponize cultural institutions to promote propaganda. The Smithsonian is a national treasure that holds the mirror up to America’s complex history. Attempts to distort that history are attacks on our democracy and on the very idea of truth itself.