A damning new White House report says that the current leadership of D.C.’s iconic Smithsonian Institution “cannot be trusted” to tell America’s history accurately.
The explosive document takes particular aim at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, which it says is led by “radical activists,” and suggests Donald Trump may be planning to install his own leadership team there.
The 162-page report, released late on July 4 by the Executive Office of the President, follows Trump’s relentless campaign to overhaul some of Washington’s most influential cultural institutions, labeling them “woke” for focusing on “divisive” issues such as slavery.
“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’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic,” the report from the White House Domestic Policy Council read.
The council is led by former Trump speechwriter Vince Haley.
The authors write that the Museum’s mission has moved “from straightforward historical education and scholarship toward an extreme political activism that seeks to transform our country.”
The report claims that the National Museum of American History, one of 21 museums in the Smithsonian group, “fails in the basic task of illuminating” the American heritage in its exhibits.
“Our central finding is not that the Museum has simply added overlooked stories, corrected perceived errors, or broadened its historical scope,” the report states.
“Rather, it is that Museum leadership has explicitly adopted an ideological framework that no longer treats the American story as a shared national inheritance to be taught or celebrated, but as a political instrument to divide, dispirit, and discourage our citizens.”
The report documents what it calls a “shift from history of activism,” citing the Museum’s director, Anthea Hartig, as saying that she views history as a “prime tool of social justice.” “These are not the words of an objective historian, but rather those of an activist advancing an ideological agenda contradictory to the Museum’s founding purpose of fostering patriotism,” it says.
The White House-approved report says 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.”
The report adds, “We must be committed to restoring truth and sanity in how American history is presented and taught.”
A spokesperson for the Smithsonian told The Hill on Sunday, “For more than 180 years, the Smithsonian has served the American public with nonpartisan and independent scholarship, and we remain committed to doing so.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the Smithsonian for comment.
In March, Trump released an executive order to enforce his planned changes at the Smithsonian, aiming to cut funding for programs promoting “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology,” as part of his ongoing critique of what he perceives as overly liberal culture.
The Institution baited Trump in May, when it reinstated text on Trump’s portrait at the “America’s Presidents” exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery that referenced the two impeachments he faced during his first term as president.
The factual information had been removed in January when the gallery updated Trump’s portrait, and merely listed his dates in office.
The Smithsonian’s current secretary, historian Lonnie Bunch, is the first African American to lead the institution.
In an interview unrelated to the new White House documents on Sunday, Bunch said the Smithsonian is “the glue that helps hold a nation together” in divided times.
“You look at who visits the Smithsonian. Everybody, red states, blue states, whatever your politics, you come to the Smithsonian,” Bunch told Meet the Press. “Why? Because you want to understand who you are, right? It’s about celebrating, but also understanding.”
Bunch said the Smithsonian provides critical “ambiguity” about U.S. history.
“It helps you understand complexity, nuance, subtlety, debate, and I think that that’s a major contribution. If you could help people feel comfortable with ambiguity, then you could help a nation move forward.”
Bunch also told Meet the Press that America’s greatest strength is “not running away from its history, but it’s understanding how that history shaped us and continues to shape us.”
Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro accused Trump and his team of trying to “rewrite history.”
“There’s not one individual narrative that a president gets about our history,” the Democrat said. “And any president should want to make sure that that full history is shared, that the American people are able to draw their own conclusions.”
He added, “If we understand where we came from, we’re going to have a better path forward.”
