President Donald Trump ramped up his assaults in opposition to the Smithsonian Establishment over the weekend by issuing an government motion that ordered new “momentary reveals or signage” to be put in outdoors the Nationwide Museum of American Historical past (NMAH), “warning” guests about “the Ideological Seize” of the museum.
The “ideological seize” is a reference to allegations that the White Home made in opposition to leaders at NMAH in a blistering July 4 report launched by the White Home Home Coverage Council, accusing the museum and its leaders of presenting “a radical view of American historical past.”
The report contains dozens of examples of reveals and supplies in reveals that the White Home has decided to be examples of “radical activism.”
“Such signage shall notify guests that the Museum reveals must be renovated according to the findings within the Report and direct guests to places and assets for correct data concerning America’s historical past,” Trump’s government order states.
Requested in regards to the government order, a spokesperson for the Smithsonian informed ABC Information on Monday they’ve “no remark at the moment.”
The Smithsonian Museum of American Historical past is pictured on the Nationwide Mall in Washington, April 3, 2019.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Picture
Trump ordered the Division of the Inside, which oversees the Nationwide Park Service, to put in momentary indicators “alongside the NPS-maintained sidewalks and walkways utilized by the general public to entry the Museum” to tell guests of the findings of the White Home report.
He additionally ordered the Inside Division to put in new signage or reveals on NPS-maintained land across the museum “that corrects inaccurate data offered within the Museum” concerning the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, claiming that the museum “didn’t appropriately appropriately honor” on the nation’s 250th anniversary in July.
ABC Information reached out to the Inside Division and NPS to inquire in regards to the timeline for putting in new supplies, however a request for remark was not returned.
NMAH Director Anthea Hartig pushed again in opposition to the White Home’s report whereas publicly testifying in a pair of Home congressional hearings final week, the place she asserted that the museum “doesn’t take sides in America’s political debates.
“Our work is ruled by the Smithsonian requirements of scholarship, accuracy, independence, and nonpartisanship,” Hartig mentioned in her opening remarks on Tuesday earlier than a Home Subcommittee on Delivering Authorities Effectivity. “The museum doesn’t take sides in America’s political debates. We protect and doc the proof of American life in all of its breadth, in order that the general public can encounter the previous and draw their very own conclusions.”
Hartig, who’s the primary prime Smithsonian official to publicly tackle these accusations earlier than Congress, added that whereas the Smithsonian “takes the considerations raised” within the White Home report “significantly,” the report “doesn’t pretty or precisely” signify the museum’s work.
“The Smithsonian takes the considerations raised within the White Home Home Coverage Council’s report significantly, and as we proceed to fact-check the report, we unwaveringly attest that it doesn’t pretty or precisely characterize the total physique of labor on the museum,” she mentioned. “There’s all the time room for enchancment, however I additionally know the wonder and the inspiration and the experience that lies in our collections, our reveals, and our programming.”
Secretary of the Smithsonian Establishment Lonnie Bunch speaks at an occasion, Feb. 20, 2026, in Washington.
Allison Robbert/AP Picture
Hartig echoed feedback made by Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch in an inside letter to employees that was obtained by ABC Information.
“Whereas there’ll all the time be room for enchancment, this report is just not a good characterization of the work and totality of the Nationwide Museum of American Historical past,” Bunch, who has not addressed the report publicly, mentioned within the letter. “On the Smithsonian, our work is pushed by scholarship, accuracy, and an uncompromising dedication to inform the fullness of America’s story.”
The White Home report was born out a evaluation that was launched in response to Trump’s March 27, 2025 government order, “Restoring Fact and Sanity to American Historical past.”
The manager order directed Vice President J.D. Vance, in session with the president’s advisers on home coverage, “to take away improper ideology” from Smithsonian establishments, arguing that supplies that forged America in a “damaging gentle” don’t have any place in federal cultural establishments.
“The intense considerations raised on this report should not about a couple of reveals or a couple of controversial labels,” the report says. “Because it stands right this moment, it will profit most People, particularly dad and mom bringing their kids for a tour, if the Smithsonian’s flagship historical past museum had a label at each entrance that reads: ‘Warning: the reveals on this museum have been ready by individuals who don’t desire you to like your nation.'”
Hartig pushed again in opposition to this declare on Tuesday and invited lawmakers to go to the museum to view its contents themselves.
“I consider what you’ll find, madams and sirs, is just not an establishment that has forgotten its nation, however one which loves it sufficient to inform the total sweep of historical past, our triumphs and our struggles,” she mentioned. “I like america of America. I contemplate it the privilege of my profession to assist protect its treasures and serve the American folks.”
The Smithsonian Establishment, which oversees 21 museums and galleries and the Nationwide Zoo, was established by Congress in 1846 and is each publicly and privately funded.
Based on the Smithsonian Establishment, it at present receives greater than $1 billion in federal funding — about 62% of its funding — and the rest of the funds come from “belief funds or non-federal funds, together with contributions from personal sources” and revenues from Smithsonian enterprises.
Bunch has been main the Smithsonian since 2019 however the establishment is overseen by a 17-member governing physique, often called the Board of Regents. Bunch, who met with Trump on the White Home on Aug. 28, 2025, repeatedly affirmed the Smithsonian’s “independence” from political affect.
Referencing his conversations with Trump in a Sept. 3, 2025 letter to the establishment’s workers, Bunch underscored the independence of the Smithsonian, saying it was “paramount.” He additionally informed workers that the establishment stays dedicated to telling the “American story” and “will all the time be, a spot that welcomes all People and the world.”
