On August 12, the administration of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump sent a letter to the Honorable Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
The letter said:
“This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
The letter to Secretary Bunch cited Trump’s March 2025 Executive Order 14253, titled Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History. The Pentagon and Department of the Interior already acted on the order.
That executive order pushed the White nationalist, White supremacist viewpoint central to Trump’s MAGA movement and Project 2025, where White is right—but accurate, inclusive history that doesn’t always glorify Whiteness as superior is “revisionist history” and must be eliminated.
Minnesota Democratic Governor and 2024 vice presidential candidate Tim Walz addressed Trump’s agenda, and people think he nailed it with a single sentence.
Walz shared across social media:
“If you’re trying to erase history, you’re on the wrong side of it.”
People pointed out Trump’s grasp of history is shaky at best.
Tim Walz/Facebook
Tim Walz/Facebook
Tim Walz/Facebook
Tim Walz/Facebook
Tim Walz/Facebook
Tim Walz/Facebook
Tim Walz/Facebook
Tim Walz/Facebook
In accordance with Trump’s directive, the accomplishments of Black, Asian, Hispanic, LGBTQ+ Americans, as well as women were wiped from federal websites.
The Navajo Codetalkers, Tuskegee Airmen, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Arlington National Cemetery pages for the gravesites of notable BIPOC and female service members were all deemed un-American and purged.
After sufficient protest, some of these historical references have been restored.
Many are pointing out their own lessons from history.
Tim Walz/Facebook
Tim Walz/Facebook
@cwebbonline/X
After public backlash over Trump’s latest White nationalist actions, Trump advisor Stephen Miller, posted on X:
“The Smithsonian is supposed to be a global symbol of American strength, culture and prestige. A place for families and children to celebrate American history and greatness.”
“Instead, the exhibits have clearly been taken over by leftwing activists who have used the Smithsonian as yet one platform to endlessly bash America and rewrite/erase our magnificent story. These activists have obscenely defaced this beloved institution.”
“The Trump Administration will proudly and diligently restore the patriotic glory of America and ensure the Smithsonian is a place that once more inspires love and devotion to this nation, especially among our youngest citizens.”
Trump’s executive order will restore how American history was once presented in federal institutions, especially the Smithsonian Institution, by removing any criticism of White historical figures and “divisive ideology” that acknowledges bigotry or slavery or genocide as inherently bad, and by restoring an unwavering narrative of American greatness and exceptionalism centered solely on the accomplishments of White people.
Acknowledging the contributions of non-Whites is “improper, divisive, or anti-American.” Acknowledging the accomplishments of women and LGBTQ+ people doesn’t “reflect the unity, progress, and enduring values that define the American story.”
In Trump’s and Miller’s universe, acknowledging the accomplishments of Americans who aren’t White, heteronormative, cisgender men is a racist and sexist attack against America.
Many historians and public figures have sounded the alarm over a well-documented racist like Trump’s stated plans to return to his own whitewashed version of history—including director and producer Spike Lee, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, civil rights leader Dr. Amos C. Brown, the National Catholic Reporter, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham, Harvard history professor Annette Gordon-Reed, andTrump’s estranged niece, psychologist Mary Trump.
Gordon-Reed said:
“The idea that the Smithsonian—which was created as an independent entity—should reflect any administration’s vision of history, and not the vision of the historians and the researchers and the other people who devote their lives to studying these things, is more than problematic.”
“This is a whitewashing of history under the guise of making White children feel better about themselves.”
One person did note one historical subject Trump is an expert on that he should definitely include in the Smithsonian.
Tim Walz/Facebook
