Source: Fox News
Summary
The Trump administration has conducted an extensive review of the Smithsonian Institution, focusing on its alleged promotion of “woke” ideology and “divisive” narratives. The review, which began with an executive order in March 2025, has examined museum exhibits, educational programming, and internal records. The administration has released a 162-page report recommending sweeping reforms and announcing new executive actions to implement those recommendations. The report criticizes the National Museum of American History for emphasizing social justice activism and ideological narratives over patriotic themes and national achievements.
Our Reading
Once again, the discussion returns to a familiar question.
The Trump administration’s review of the Smithsonian Institution has become a performance of patriotic zeal, with the White House releasing a report and issuing executive orders to restore a more patriotic presentation of American history. The report’s findings are presented as evidence of the institution’s “ideological capture,” with exhibits and programming accused of promoting social justice activism and divisive narratives. The administration’s efforts are framed as a necessary correction to the institution’s alleged drift away from its original mission. The Smithsonian, meanwhile, maintains that its mission is to preserve and present the nation’s history through scholarship, research, and public education.
The sequence of events has become a ritual of sorts, with the administration using its review to reassert its vision of American history and the Smithsonian pushing back against what it sees as an attempt to politicize its mission.
The controversy has become a familiar refrain in the ongoing debate over how America’s story should be told.
The administration’s report and executive orders have become a form of performance art, with the White House using its findings to create a narrative of a institution in need of correction.
The Smithsonian’s response, or lack thereof, has become a form of counter-performance, with the institution standing by its mission and scholarship.
As the debate continues, the question remains: what is the proper role of the Smithsonian in presenting American history?
