Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch announced today that he is resigning at the end of this year. Bunch has been trying to defend the Smithsonian from aggressive moves by the White House to try to control how the museum complex tells the story of United States history. President Donald Trump has said that the president is in charge of the Smithsonian even though the laws say that governance lies with its board of directors. Bunch is the first Secretary of the Smithsonian to have been a professional historian. He is also the first who is African American.
Bunch had been the head curator of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. He was the founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture beginning in 2005.
The first open sign of the Trump administration trying to clamp down on the Smithsonian came in an executive order signed in March of 2025. The order said:
“Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth. This revisionist movement seeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light. Under this historical revision, our Nation’s unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness is reconstructed as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed. Rather than fostering unity and a deeper understanding of our shared past, the widespread effort to rewrite history deepens societal divides and fosters a sense of national shame, disregarding the progress America has made and the ideals that continue to inspire millions around the globe.”
The next section of the Executive Order said that the Smithsonian has come under the influence of a “divisive, race centered ideology” under the influence of Bunch, an African American. The order continues:
“Once widely respected as a symbol of American excellence and a global icon of cultural achievement, the Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology. This shift has promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive. For example, the Smithsonian American Art Museum today features “The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture,” an exhibit representing that “[s]ocieties including the United States have used race to establish and maintain systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement.” The exhibit further claims that “sculpture has been a powerful tool in promoting scientific racism” and promotes the view that race is not a biological reality but a social construct, stating “Race is a human invention.””
The Executive Order says that the White House will focus on changing how the Smithsonian and the National Park Service retail the presentation of history to take out any real history of the white majority’s actions on race:
“It is the policy of my Administration to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing. Museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history.”
On July 24, 2026 the White House ordered the Interior Department and the National Park Service to install signs outside of the Smithsonian museums that say the museums are distorting American history. The president’s Executive Order said “that current leadership of both the Smithsonian Institution and the Museum cannot be trusted to tell America’s story with honesty and gratitude.” The National Park Service, which administers the land outside the museum, “shall install temporary signage along the NPS-maintained sidewalks and walkways used by the public to access the Museum, informing visitors of the findings of the Report and of the policy set forth in section 1 of this order. Such signage shall notify visitors that the Museum exhibits should be renovated consistent with the findings in the Report and direct visitors to locations and resources for accurate information regarding America’s history,” according to the Executive Order.
Bunch has said that he has personal reasons for leaving the Smithsonian. Bunch is 73 years old, seven years younger than the president.
