(The Hill) – White House officials are launching a review of some of the Smithsonian’s museums to ensure “alignment” with President Trump’s “directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
A Tuesday letter to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch was signed by the Domestic Policy Council’s Vince Haley, White House senior associate staff secretary Lindsey Halligan and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, the Wall Street Journal reported. The review outlined in the letter, Halligan told the paper, “is about preserving trust in one of our most cherished institutions.”
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A White House official confirmed the Wall Street Journal’s report to The Hill.
Visitors look at a photograph of former President Donald Trump by Pari Dukovic hanging in the America’s Presidents exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Some of the review’s focus will be on exhibits that are poised to be featured as part of next year’s 250th anniversary celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The letter instructed eight of the Smithsonian’s museums — including the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of American History, the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of the American Indian, among others — to replace exhibits that include “divisive or ideologically driven” material with “unifying, historically accurate” content, according to the news outlet.
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In March, Trump signed an executive order that accused the Smithsonian Institution of being influenced in “recent years” by “a divisive, race-centered ideology.”
“This shift has promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive,” the order said, part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to roll back former President Biden-era initiatives that promoted diversity, equity and inclusion.
Last month, Halligan, one of the signers of the White House letter to Bunch, criticized an exhibit at the National Museum of American History, saying, “American taxpayers should not be funding institutions that undermine our country or promote one-sided, divisive political narratives.”
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“The Smithsonian Institution should present history in a way that is accurate, balanced, and consistent with the values that make the United States of America exceptional,” Halligan told Fox News Digital.
The Smithsonian made headlines in recent weeks after its National Museum of American History removed an exhibit referencing Trump’s two impeachments. The museum later said in a statement that the placard that contained information about Trump’s impeachments would be restored after being ” updated in the coming weeks to reflect all impeachment proceedings in our nation’s history.”
“We were not asked by any Administration or other government official to remove content from the exhibit,” the statement said.
