The White House is reportedly launching a sweeping review of Smithsonian museums to make sure they align with President Donald Trump’s sanitized version of U.S. history.
The news comes via a bombshell Wall Street Journal report, which details the White House’s push ahead of America’s 250th anniversary, which will be celebrated on July 4, 2026. In a letter to Smithsonian secretary Lonnie Bunch, three senior White House officials demanded that the museums embody “unity, progress, and enduring values that define the American story” in line with Trump’s March executive order on “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”
Trump’s crusade to rewrite history will leave no stone unturned. The Journal reports that everything—from exhibition text and digital content to curatorial decisions, collection management, and artist funding—will be scrutinized.
The letter was signed by White House senior associate Lindsey Halligan, Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley, and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought. And it calls for replacing “divisive or ideologically driven” language with “unifying, historically accurate” materials.
“This is about preserving trust in one of our most cherished institutions,” Halligan told The Journal. “The Smithsonian museums and exhibits should be accurate, patriotic, and enlightening—ensuring they remain places of learning, wonder, and national pride for generations to come.”
But this is a hard sell given Trump’s track record. His administration has aggressively purged diversity, equity, and inclusion content from federal websites, erasing mentions of Navajo Code Talkers from the Defense Department’s websites, and deleting tributes to Black, Hispanic, and female service members from the Arlington Cemetery website.
The White House’s latest Smithsonian effort takes place amid other recent controversies at the storied museum. In July, the museum removed a temporary installation referencing Trump’s two impeachments from an exhibit that also displayed artifacts related to the impeachments (or resignations) of former Presidents Bill Clinton, Andrew Johnson, and Richard Nixon. After facing public condemnation, the placards were restored, though with softened text and a less prominent placement.
And this is all part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to reshape history. Last week, the National Park Service announced it would reinstall a statue of Confederate General Albert Pike in Washington, D.C.—a man who advocated expelling free Black people from Arkansas—after protesters toppled it in 2020. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed monument removals as the work of “woke lemmings.”
The Journal reports the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents has agreed to a full review of its museums and zoo to root out supposed political bias. But Trump’s executive order accuses the institution of pushing a “divisive, race-centered ideology” that paints American and Western values as harmful. Vice President JD Vance, a board member, has been tasked with helping block funding for exhibitions that clash with Trump’s racist agenda.
The White House’s Smithsonian review will focus on eight museums in D.C., including the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the National Portrait Gallery. In other words, expect more women and people of color to be targeted.
The process is slated to wrap up in early 2026, just in time for Trump to claim victory over “wokeness” during the anniversary celebrations.
It’s a stark example of how far Trump and his allies will go to purge anything remotely inclusive from America’s cultural memory. But this isn’t about “restoring truth”—he wants to rewrite it altogether.