Trump Reportedly Planning to Put Signs Outside the Smithsonian to ‘Publicly Shame’ Museum Leadership
(The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images )
President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly preparing to put up signs outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History accusing its leadership of ideological bias.
According to a Tuesday report from The Atlantic, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum revealed the plans in a Sept. 3 letter to Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who had sought details about the initiative after Trump ordered the signage in a July executive order.
“Donald Trump has not forgotten his midsummer promise to publicly shame the Smithsonian,” wrote the magazine’s Kelsey Ables.
The National Park Service is expected to install roughly a dozen temporary signs outside the museum at an estimated cost of $84,000, The Atlantic revealed.
While the final wording has not yet been determined, the signs 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,” according to Burgum’s letter.
The Interior Secretary also argued that the museum promotes “ideologies that distract from a coherent and accurate presentation of America’s story,” adding, “This may be the first instance in which executive branch intervention of this nature has become Necessary.”
The letter reportedly takes particular aim at museum director Anthea Hartig and outgoing Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch, citing their previous remarks about race and the presentation of American history.
“A commitment to public transparency means that visitors should be informed about Director Hartig’s and other Smithsonian leaders’ history of racial focus,” Burgum wrote.
He added that visitors should know about “Secretary Lonnie Bunch’s history of invidious discrimination and anti-white animus,” pointing to a 2000 essay in which Bunch discussed racial discrimination within the museum profession.
The administration also singled out museum materials involving transgender Americans and terminology surrounding undocumented immigrants.
In August of 2025, Trump targeted the institution on Truth Social, writing in part, “The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been.”
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