The Next Change Trump Has Planned for the Smithsonian
A letter from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum revealed new details about warning signs the White House will install near the American-history museum.
TL;DR
- The Trump administration is planning to erect temporary signs outside the National Museum of American History to accuse it of ideological bias.
- Interior Secretary Doug Burgum sent a letter detailing the National Park Service's plan for about a dozen signs at an estimated cost of $84,000.
- The signs are intended to provide visitors with "context" about exhibits and the "personal viewpoints" of curators, framing museum leadership as ideologues.
- The initiative echoes a White House report that claimed the museum pushes "ideologies that distract from a coherent and accurate presentation of America’s story."
- The Smithsonian, which operates independently, has faced criticism and threats from the Trump administration since March 2025.
- The museum's leadership maintains that its work is guided by standards of scholarship, accuracy, independence, and nonpartisanship, and that telling American history in its full complexity is crucial.
- Trump's executive order also directed the Park Service to guide visitors to White House-approved historical resources and include an exhibit on the Declaration of Independence signers.
- The Burgum letter specifically criticizes comments made by Director Hartig on topics like US history and "America First," and Secretary Bunch's writings on racial discrimination in the museum profession.