Donald Trump uses $84,000 in taxpayer money to install signs accusing Smithsonian museums of bias

The Donald Trump administration plans to spend an estimated $84,000 in federal funds to install roughly a dozen signs outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History warning visitors about what the administration describes as ideological bias in the museum’s exhibits, according to a letter obtained by The Atlantic.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Sen. Jeff Merkley in a letter that the National Park Service would install the signs using Interior Department funds. Merkley and Sen. Lisa Murkowski had requested details after Trump signed an executive order on July 24 directing the signs to be placed along sidewalks and walkways leading to the museum.

The wording of the signs has not been finalized, but Burgum’s letter previews language that would tell visitors about information they “should know” before entering the museum. The draft language quotes museum director Anthea Hartig extensively and criticizes outgoing Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch, portraying their work as advancing ideological positions. It also references exhibits and materials involving undocumented immigrants and transgender Americans, subjects the Trump administration has criticized.

“The signage will provide visitors with important context about the exhibits they are about to encounter and the personal viewpoints that the curators of the exhibits are seeking to advance,” Burgum wrote. He added that the effort “may be the first instance in which executive branch intervention of this nature has become necessary.”

The executive order behind the signage

Trump’s July 24 executive order accused Smithsonian leadership of failing to “present American history as a shared national inheritance to be taught and celebrated.” It instead accused the institution of using American history to advance “ideas of social justice and the radical transformation of our society.”

The order said the Smithsonian and museum leadership “can be trusted” neither to tell the country’s history “with honesty and gratitude” and directed Burgum and the National Park Service to install temporary signs along NPS-maintained sidewalks and walkways leading to the museum. The signs were intended to warn visitors about what the administration called “ideological capture” and to “correct inaccurate information presented in the Museum.”

The order also directed additional signage or exhibits on NPS-maintained land concerning what it described as inadequate recognition of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence during the nation’s 250th anniversary year.

The order followed a 162-page White House report accusing the National Museum of American History of “extreme political activism.” The administration also said it would review whether the Smithsonian was complying with federal funding and contract conditions.

The Smithsonian receives more than $1 billion a year in federal appropriations.

Trump’s long-running dispute with the Smithsonian

Trump has repeatedly criticized the National Museum of American History during his second term, calling the institution “woke” and “out of control” over its treatment of subjects including slavery. He has also argued that its exhibits place too little emphasis on what he describes as the “success,” “brightness” and “future” of American history.

In March 2025, Trump signed an executive order directing the administration to address what it described as “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology” in Smithsonian programs. The order directed Vice President J.D. Vance, who serves on the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents, to work with Congress on withholding funding from “exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values.”

The administration cited the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s exhibition The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture and a planned Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum exhibition involving transgender athletes.

Bunch pushes back, then announces retirement

Bunch, the first Black person and first historian to lead the Smithsonian, defended the museum’s work in a July email to staff obtained by NBC News. He said the administration’s report “is not a fair characterization of the work and totality of the National Museum of American History.”

“The museum’s work,” Bunch wrote, “is driven by scholarship, accuracy and an uncompromising commitment to tell the fullness of America’s story.”

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in July, Bunch also defended the museum’s emphasis on complexity and ambiguity in presenting U.S. history.

On September 8, Bunch announced that he would retire at the end of the year after nearly 38 years with the Smithsonian, including seven years as its 14th secretary.

Bunch told The New York Times that his decision was not driven by his conflicts with the Trump administration, saying “now’s the time.” He acknowledged the pressure of the preceding months, saying, “I have to be honest, it has been stressful.”

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who serves as Smithsonian chancellor and sits on its Board of Regents, praised Bunch’s tenure, saying he “has pursued excellence in the telling of our nation’s story.” The board has begun a national search for his replacement.

In a separate August letter to the Smithsonian, Burgum accused its leadership of having “sanctioned a radical institutional ideology” that had permeated the museum. He said the institution’s approach weakened “our shared American identity” and sought to “weaponize our national institutions and traditions in support of a radical political agenda.”

Trump calls for a 30-foot George Washington statue

Trump has also called for changes to the area outside the museum that are separate from the planned warning signs.

In two Truth Social posts on September 12, Trump called for the Smithsonian to replace Infinity, a Möbius-strip-shaped stainless steel sculpture by José de Rivera at the museum’s south entrance, with a 30-foot statue of George Washington.

Trump described Infinity as a “strange modernist sculpture” that “tells visitors nothing about America” and said Washington was “easily America’s Greatest Hero.”

He also asked the Smithsonian to place an existing 11-foot bronze statue of Washington in the museum’s Flag Hall for Constitution Day on September 17. The statue had previously been displayed at the Freedom 250 Grand Prix.

Trump further called for a five-year exhibition about Washington’s life, running through February 22, 2032, the 300th anniversary of his birth.

Washington served as president from 1789 to 1797 and was a lifelong enslaver.