<\/p>\n
NEW YORK<\/strong> \u2013 A White House report<\/a> brands the leadership of the Smithsonian Institution<\/a>, especially at the National Museum of American History<\/a>, as radical activists who cannot be trusted, indicating that President Donald Trump may be preparing to install his own team<\/a>. <\/p>\n The report released late on Independence Day by the White House Domestic Policy Council comes in the midst of Trump\u2019s aggressive campaign to overhaul some of Washington’s most sacred cultural and historic institutions. Trump in March revealed his intention to force changes<\/a> at the Smithsonian Institution<\/a> with an executive order<\/a> that targeted funding for programs that advanced \u201cdivisive narratives\u201d and \u201cimproper ideology,\u201d as he continued a broadside against culture he deems too liberal.<\/p>\n “The Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of American History in particular, under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted to tell America\u2019s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic,\u201d according to the report by the council, which is led by a former top Trump speechwriter. <\/p>\n The authors added: \u201cAs this report shows, confirmed in the words of Museum leadership, this ideological capture has moved the Museum\u2019s mission away from straightforward historical education and scholarship toward an extreme political activism that seeks to transform our country.\u201d<\/p>\n The Smithsonian did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday.<\/p>\n Historian Lonnie Bunch, the Smithsonian’s current secretary, is the first African American to lead the institution. In an unrelated interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d Bunch said \u201cthe notion of being a more perfect union, not the perfect union, is really what motivates me.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cI think what I want people to understand is that there is a responsibility to continue to make those aspirations available, accessible, meaningful to a whole range of people,\u201d Bunch said. \u201cAnd that, in essence, America\u2019s greatest strength, it\u2019s not running away from its history, but it\u2019s understanding how that history shaped us and continues to shape us.\u201d<\/p>\n Historian Anthea M. Hartig is the first woman to serve as director of National Museum of American History.<\/p>\n Trump’s escalating effort to force changes at the Smithsonian marks the Republican president’s latest move to transform cultural pillars of society, such as universities and art, that he considers out of step with conservative sensibilities. Trump had himself installed as chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts<\/a> with the aim of overhauling programming, and his handpicked board voted to add his name to the building, only to have a federal judge later order the signage to be removed<\/a>.<\/p>\n The administration also forced Columbia University to make a series of policy changes<\/a> by threatening the Ivy League school with the loss of several hundred million dollars in federal funding.<\/p>\n Trump has also imposed changes on historical sites beyond Washington, including in Philadelphia, where the administration won a court ruling<\/a> last week allowing it to reinstall interpretive panels that critics say whitewash the history of slavery at the site of President George Washington\u2019s home. Advocates, academics and officials have been concerned for months that the version that complies with Trump\u2019s order could give a history that plays down the pain<\/a> in the nation\u2019s past in favor of a more triumphant view.<\/p>\n Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa., accused Trump and his allies of trying to \u201crewrite history.”<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s not one individual narrative that a president gets about our history,\u201d Shapiro, a potential presidential prospect, said in an interview that aired Sunday on celebrity.land’s \u201cState of the Union.\u201d \u201cAnd any president should want to make sure that that full history is shared, that the American people are able to draw their own conclusions.\u201d<\/p>\n Shapiro added, \u201cIf we understand where we came from, we\u2019re going to have a better path forward.”<\/p>\n Trump’s Domestic Policy Council does not necessarily agree.<\/p>\n The National Museum of American History “confronts visitors with materials intended to undermine faith in American institutions and the longstanding shared ideals of the American people,\u201d the council’s report said. \u201cWe must be committed to restoring truth and sanity in how American history is presented and taught.\u201d<\/p>\n In seeking to fulfill Trump’s order, which he called \u201cRestoring Truth and Sanity to American History,\u201d the review concluded by finding that the museum \u201cby the intention and at the direction of current Museum and Smithsonian leadership, has become subject to institutional capture by a radical, activist ideology that is fundamentally opposed to telling the noble, honest story of the great country we know and love.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.news4jax.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NEW YORK \u2013 A White House report brands the leadership of the Smithsonian Institution, especially at the National Museum of American History, as radical activists who cannot be trusted, indicating that President Donald Trump may be preparing to install his own team. 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