{"id":2079,"date":"2026-06-23T07:06:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T07:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2079"},"modified":"2026-06-23T07:06:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T07:06:49","slug":"trump-wants-to-seize-the-smithsonian-and-he-has-a-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2079","title":{"rendered":"Trump wants to seize the Smithsonian \u2014 and he has a plan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

President Donald Trump reportedly wants to seize the Smithsonian Institution, one of America\u2019s most prestigious collection of museums, and to use them to whitewash the United States\u2019 history on issues like slavery.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s \u2018pitifully impotent\u2019 presidency torn apart as PR disaster spirals<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen President Trump summoned Lonnie Bunch, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, for lunch at the White House on August 28 of last year, Bunch\u2019s advisers assumed that the end was near,\u201d The Atlantic\u2019s Clint Smith wrote on Monday. \u201cTrump had spent months threatening the Smithsonian\u2019s independence; just nine days earlier, he\u2019d written on Truth Social that \u2018the 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.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Bunch, who unambiguously believes that slavery was a negative for America, was also the founding director of the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of African American History and Culture. He is known to have pushed back against attempts by Vice President JD Vance and Rep. Carlos Gim\u00e9nez (R-FL), who sits on the Smithsonian\u2019s Board of Regents, as well as others in the Trump administration to scrub so-called \u201cwoke\u201d ideas in the museum that they described as a \u201cdivisive ideology.\u201d Trump also tried to fire the director of the Smithsonian\u2019s National Portrait Gallery, even though the Smithsonian is meant to be independent of the government.<\/p>\n

Despite these challenges, Bunch was able to avoid winding up in the administration\u2019s crosshairs, at least for a while. Yet as various key personnel step down from the museums\u2019 boards, Smith anticipates that Trump may ultimately get his wish of hiring loyalists who will reshape the museum to his liking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current and looming vacancies, and the need for congressional and presidential approval, raise the possibility that Trump could attempt to install new board members who are loyal to his agenda,\u201d Smith wrote. \u201c(Trump\u2019s March 2025 executive order said that the White House would work with officials \u2018to seek the appointment of citizen members to the Smithsonian Board of Regents committed to advancing the policy of this order.\u2019)\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith added, \u201cIn April, The New York Times reported that the regents had agreed on nominations for some of the replacements, but the House committee responsible for reviewing and vetting the nominees before they move to the full legislature for approval had yet to receive the names under consideration\u2014intrigue that suggests some manner of strategy, although it\u2019s far from clear whose. Minutes from board meetings earlier this year show that the regents have voted to give existing members additional duties because of the current and expected vacancies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s secret edge \u2014 and the one factor polls kept missing in 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite these pressures, Bunch vowed in an internal memo to staff that \u201cwe remain steadfast in our mission to bring history, science, education, research and the arts to all Americans. We will continue to showcase world-class exhibits, collections and objects, rooted in expertise and accuracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, federal Judge Angel Kelly ruled against Trump\u2019s attempts to remove historic content that is featured at national parks. Trump specifically targeted content that discussed America\u2019s history of racism, including slavery.<\/p>\n

“To establish a likelihood of success on the merits, Defendants must do more than express disagreement with the Court\u2019s prior ruling; they must make a strong showing that they are likely to prevail on appeal,” Kelley explained in response to the administration\u2019s objection to being forced to allow the National Parks Service to accurately represent American history.<\/p>\n

She added, “To establish irreparable harm, Defendants bear the burden of demonstrating that, absent a stay, they will suffer irreparable injury that is substantial, certain, and inadequately remedied by monetary damages or later appellate relief. … Here, Defendants raise three theories: (1) the Injunction Order hampers government speech by preventing the National Park Service (\u201cNPS\u201d) from proffering its preferred narrative at National Parks; (2) implementation of the Injunction Order is practically infeasible and costly; and (3) the Injunction Order conflicts with a recent order issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit regarding Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, PA, thus subjecting Defendants to inconsistent obligations with respect to that site. The Court is unpersuaded by these arguments and explains why.”<\/p>\n

Read more WSJ reporter won\u2019t put his own money in Trump Accounts \u2014 and says you shouldn\u2019t either<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump reportedly wants to seize the Smithsonian Institution, one of America\u2019s most prestigious collection of museums, and to use them to whitewash the United States\u2019 history on issues like slavery.\u201cWhen President Trump summoned Lonnie Bunch, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institut…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump wants to seize the Smithsonian \u2014 and he has a plan - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2079\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump wants to seize the Smithsonian \u2014 and he has a plan - 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