The National Museum of American History is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy of the National Museum of American History)
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s latest attack on the Smithsonian Institution represents an attempt to replace a shared American history with his own ideology, scholars said, as the Smithsonian Institution defended its longstanding position as a nonpartisan player.
A White House on the Fourth of July report accused the Smithsonian Institution and its National Museum of American History of promoting what it called a “radical, activist ideology” that downplayed U.S. achievements and promoted injustices related to race, gender and sexual identity.
But the report does not advocate a neutral portrayal of history, said Asim Ali, a professor of American studies at the University of Maryland. Instead, the report’s authors promote their own vision of American history that downplays the country’s shortcomings to promote national pride, Ali said.
“The report describes the activities of the National Museum of American History as ideologically and politically motivated,” Ali said. “But what the opening pages actually say is that you should follow a different ideology – one that focuses on what the report’s authors want to see.”
A spokesman for the Smithsonian, a group of museums funded largely by the federal government, said the museum has a nearly two-century track record of impartial service.
“For more than 180 years, the Smithsonian has served the American public with impartial and independent science, and we remain committed to doing so,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement to States Newsroom.
According to a July 8 Washington Post, Lonnie G. Bunch III, the Smithsonian’s secretary, was more forceful in an internal email Article.
His email to staff said the White House report was “not an adequate description of the work and entirety of the National Museum of American History,” according to the Post.
“Ideological capture”
The devastating 162-page book report Pamela Nadell, a history professor at American University, said the book, published by the White House Domestic Policy Council, represents the latest push in a broader Trump effort to restructure some of the country’s most prominent cultural and artistic institutions to move closer to the nationalist vision that animates his MAGA movement.
It claims that the Smithsonian National Museum of American History has “explicitly adopted an ideological framework that no longer treats American history as a shared national heritage to be taught or celebrated,” but instead portrays the country in a “problematic” airy with “thinly veiled anti-Americanism.”
“This ideological capture has shifted the museum’s mission away from pure historical education and scholarship toward extreme political activism aimed at transforming our country,” the report said.
The struggle to define history
Ali said he believes the report’s introduction reads like “propaganda” because it focuses on ideology and ignores the contributions of academics and researchers.
Nadell also said the Trump administration is trying to force the Smithsonian — along with other cultural and educational institutions across the country — to conform to a certain “patriotic, heroic narrative.”
She said she disagreed with the report’s attempts to downplay flawed parts of American history that are “essential to telling the nation’s entire story.”
The White House report also has its supporters, who agree with Trump that U.S. educational and cultural institutions should portray the country’s history in a more positive airy.
U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, an Indiana Republican who has introduced a bill to codify a 2025 Trump executive order covering U.S. history, said in a Social media post Tuesday that the White House was right in its criticism of the National Museum of American History.
“The Museum of *American* History has no major exhibits dedicated to the founding of *America*,” the senator wrote. “Instead, it focuses on ‘social justice’ and ‘decolonization.’ That’s wrong.”
“Woke” institutions
The Domestic Policy Council, led by former Trump campaign speechwriter Vince Haley, accused the museum leadership of pursuing personal ideological goals that contradict the institution’s patriotic founding principles.
The language used in the White House report reflects arguments made by the second Trump administration against academic and cultural institutions that the president deems too culturally liberal or “woke up.”
Last year, less than a month after taking office, Trump named himself chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and took control of much of the center’s programming.
He has it too ordered Colleges and universities to make changes to their programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion and threatened to withhold federal funding if they didn’t comply.
And the July 4 report is not the Trump administration’s first move against the Smithsonian Institution. The President issued a letter in March 2025 Implementing regulation “to restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness” and to get rid of any “inappropriate ideology.”
Then he started one from August last year Investigation in exhibitions and materials from eight of the Smithsonian’s 21 museums.
Constructive criticism OK
Andrew Taylor, an associate professor of arts management at American University, said the Smithsonian should not be immune from criticism.
“I think everyone in the country has the right to hold the Smithsonian accountable and do their best for the causes they care about,” he said. “It’s okay, it’s harmless and it’s useful.”
But, he added, the White House’s criticism appeared more intended to disrupt truthful public reporting of the nation’s history.
“It feels like the report is designed to change what we see as our shared history, without us actually being clear about what that should be,” he said.
