White House pushes Smithsonian to comply with review to receive federal funding
The Trump administration has signaled to the Smithsonian Institution that the White House could withhold federal funding from the museum organization if it does not comply with the administration’s unprecedented, sweeping review.
In a Thursday letter to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, White House officials said funds are available only “for use in a manner consistent” with President Donald Trump’s executive order from March, which tasked aides with rooting out “ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives” within the organization.
Tensions between the White House and the Smithsonian ramped up in August, when the administration asked the organization to turn over an array of materials, including gallery labels, future exhibition plans and internal communications about artwork selection.
The White House officials said materials the Smithsonian handed over in September “fell far short of what was requested, and the overwhelming majority of requested items remain outstanding.”
CNN has reached out to the Smithsonian for comment.
The letter, penned by White House Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley and Trump’s budget chief Russ Vought, urged the Smithsonian to align itself with the administration’s push to get rid of what it considers anti-American propaganda.
“The American people will have no patience for any museum that is diffident about America’s founding or otherwise uncomfortable conveying a positive view of American history, one which is justifiably proud of our country’s accomplishments and record,” the officials said.
While the Smithsonian, a unique public-private trust, does not consider itself an executive agency, the federal government supplies two-thirds of its budget. It’s a potential vulnerability for the 179-year-old institution, which has tried to maintain its independence despite unprecedented scrutiny of its programming by the Trump White House.
Federal funding has emerged as a major leverage point for the Trump administration, which, through the Vought-led Office of Management and Budget, has gutted agencies and initiatives that don’t align with the president’s agenda.
Trump directed his attorneys in August to conduct the review, claiming the Smithsonian was “out of control” and that “everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been.”
The museum complex now has until January 13 to turn in the rest of the requested documents, which include organizational charts, curatorial manuals, proposals for future exhibitions, and in-depth information about its programming for the US’ 250th anniversary next year.
The Washington Post has reported that Bunch, the institution’s secretary since 2019, committed to sharing information in a letter responding to the White House on Friday. He also noted that the recent 43-day government shutdown delayed the requested work, according to The Post.
Exhibits at the Smithsonian take years of planning and are heavily evaluated by teams of scholars and curatorial experts. Janet Marstine, a museum ethics expert, told CNN shortly after the White House review that the demands laid out by the Trump administration “set the Smithsonian up for failure.”
“Nobody could provide those kinds of materials in such a comprehensive way, in that short amount of time, and so it’s just an impossible task,” she said.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/21/politics/white-house-smithsonian-review"For I will dictate and censor which parts of American history you are allowed to show the American people and which parts you can not! We have no intention or permitting you to cover all of our history because some of it is terrible! You will not be allowed to show any of the terrible parts from this day forth says the great and powerful Oz!
