Trump Administration Threatens Smithsonian Funding Over History Exhibits

The Trump administration has threatened to withhold federal support from the Smithsonian, including artifact loans and grants, over what it calls an "ideological agenda" in the institution's curation of American history. In a Friday letter to the Board of Regents, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and White House Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley criticized the National Museum of American History's Interpretive Plan for focusing on topics like race, gender, and immigration, citing examples such as staff interviewing deported migrants in Mexico. The threat follows a March executive order and a July White House report accusing the Smithsonian of political activism, which Secretary Lonnie Bunch rejected as unfair, while the Organization of American Historians called it part of an assault on evidence-based history.