President Trump has launched a coordinated effort to efface the historical record of the United States in the national museums of the Smithsonian Institution.

“The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it would begin a wide-ranging review of current and planned exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution, scouring wall text, websites and social media ‘to assess tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals,'” according to The New York Times.

This “review” will clearly be conducted as an unacademic, ahistoric, and politicized process to rewrite history to align with the Trumpist Republican Party’s partisan vision of the history of the United States.

The Trump administration claims to want to present a history that is “unifying” and in “alignment with American ideals.”

Many previous statements by President Trump and members of his administration make clear that their goal is to create a politicized and reactionary version of so-called “patriotic” history and American “exceptionalism.”

This explicitly partisan vision of “American ideals” ignores the realities of the complicated and contradictory history of the United States, which has often failed to live up to the ideals articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

The Trump administration’s partisan “review” and rewriting of history will clearly focus on Americans of European heritage in advancing a racist White Nationalist historical narrative.

Trump administration officials aim to limit discussions of the historical contributions of African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, and other minority groups at Smithsonian museums.

For this reason, the Trump administration is specifically targeting the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, and National Museum of American History, which have revised and expanded their presentations of United States history in recent years, incorporating new historical research by academic historians and professional public historians.

The Trump administration also plans to scrub the Smithsonian museums of references to controversial policies, unsavory episodes, and atrocities committed by the federal government or within the territories of the United States.

Here, Trump and his White Nationalist allies want to remove or minimize the historical realities of the slave trade, plantation slavery, Jim Crow era lynchings, and segregation at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. They want to minimize the struggles and the achievements of African Americans who fought for voting rights and representation during the Civil Rights movement and up to today.

The Trump administration intends to remove references to atrocities, massacres, and ethnic cleansing carried out by settlers, companies, state governments, and the United States Army against Amerindians at the National Museum of the American Indian.

The New York Times reports that “White House officials announced the review in a letter sent to Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian. Museums will be required to adjust any content that the administration finds problematic within 120 days, the letter said, ‘replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate and constructive descriptions.'”

“The review, which will begin with eight of the Smithsonian’s 21 museums, is the latest attempt by President Trump to try to impose his will on the Smithsonian, which has traditionally operated as an independent institution that regards itself outside the purview of the executive branch.”

Samuel J. Redman, Professor of History (University of Massachusetts Amherst) has rightly characterized the Trump administration’s review as “a full assault on the autonomy of all the different branches of the institution.”

Indeed, the Trump administration’s partisan political effort aims to undermine the documentary research and historical analysis carried out by academic historians and professional public historians, which have contributed to the current Smithsonian Institution’s exhibitions. This is a direct attack on the academic freedom of professional historians and museum curators to conduct historical research and present their findings in the public interest of all United States citizens.

The Smithsonian museums safeguard the historical objects and documents of the nation’s past and they preserve the historical memory of the United States.

The Trump-appointed officials who will carry out the “review” of the Smithsonian museums aim to replace documented historical presentation with a purely partisan and politicized image of the United States that conforms to President Trump’s fundamentally ahistoric vision of the nation’s past.

A widespread program to distort the documented historical record of the United States has begun.

Bowley, Graham, Jennifer Schuessler, and Robin Pogrebin. “White House Announces Comprehensive Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions.” The New York Times (13 August 2025).