Top officials in President Donald Trump’s administration are carrying out a massive review of the Smithsonian Institution’s museum exhibits, curatorial materials and other operations in advance of the country’s 250th anniversary next year.
The review is meant to better align the vast institution — which encompasses 21 museums, 21 libraries and a zoo — with Trump’s views, specifically those he outlined in a March executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”
That order explicitly calls for the Smithsonian Institution to be analyzed.
A Tuesday letter addressed to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch outlined the administration’s expectations.
“This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions,” it said.
The letter bears the signatures of Lindsey Halligan, Vince Haley and Russ Vought, who serve as senior staff secretary, director of the Domestic Policy Council and director of the Office of Management and Budget, respectively.
The officials say their goal “is not to interfere with the day-to-day operations of curators or staff.”
However, they demand a huge array of materials be provided for their review.
The materials include public-facing exhibition text, “wall didactics,” website content, social media posts, and plans for future exhibitions. The officials want to interview curators and senior staff “to better understand the selection process, exhibition approval workflows, and any frameworks currently guiding exhibition content.” They wish to see educational materials available to teachers, grant applications and funding agreements, surveys taken from visitors and the entire collection of permanent holdings.
Within 120 days, the Smithsonian is expected to “begin implementing content corrections.”
Officials will target eight museums first, before expanding to “Phase II,” which is not described.
The museums include: the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
“The Smithsonian’s work is grounded in a deep commitment to scholarly excellence, rigorous research, and the accurate, factual presentation of history,” the institution said in a statement to HuffPost. “We are reviewing the letter with this commitment in mind and will continue to collaborate constructively with the White House, Congress, and our governing Board of Regents.”
Just last week, the museum sparked outrage when it emerged that it had changed descriptions of Trump’s two impeachments as part of an exhibit in the American history museum. New text alongside the exhibit downplays Trump’s role in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, raid on the Capitol and the fact that his claims about the legitimacy of the 2020 election were false.