Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch disputed the scathing July 4 report released by the White House, which accused the Nationwide Museum of American Historical past and its leaders of presenting a “radical view” of American historical past.
In an inside letter to employees that was obtained by ABC Information, he wrote that Smithsonian management is “rigorously” reviewing the report’s findings. Bunch has not addressed the report publicly.
“Whereas there’ll at all times be room for enchancment, this report shouldn’t be a good characterization of the work and totality of the Nationwide Museum of American Historical past,” Bunch mentioned within the letter. “On the Smithsonian, our work is pushed by scholarship, accuracy, and an uncompromising dedication to inform the fullness of America’s story.”
“As public servants and the keepers of this establishment, we’re charged with serving to a nation discover understanding, hope, and readability and as a part of that responsibility, we’re devoted to excellence, reflection, and development,” Bunch added.
The Smithsonian Museum of American Historical past is pictured on the Nationwide Mall in Washington, April 3, 2019.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photograph
Within the letter, Bunch thanked employees members for his or her “dedication” to their work and their “perception” within the establishment’s mission.
“Every single day, we’re honored to inform America’s tales and maintain that duty with the utmost regard, respect, and constancy. We stay dedicated to fulfilling our mission for generations to return,” he mentioned.
The report was printed by the White Home Home Coverage Council. Vince Haley, the group’s director, mentioned in an announcement to ABC Information that “No American desires the Smithsonian’s Nationwide Museum of American Historical past to be a system of ideological activism.”
“Sadly, the report demonstrates that’s precisely what the Smithsonian’s flagship museum has change into,” he mentioned. “Throughout this 250th anniversary 12 months of our heroic founding, the least we owe our Founding Fathers is an sincere and provoking account of who they have been, what they did, and what they constructed. It’s our hope and expectation that the Smithsonian will ultimately rise as soon as once more to that noble obligation — to inform America’s story for our youngsters, the world, and future generations of Individuals.”
Bunch’s letter comes days after the Home Coverage Council launched the scathing 162-page report accusing the Smithsonian Establishment of participating in “excessive political activism” and presenting “a radical view of American historical past.”
The report notably took aim at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (NMAH), accusing its management of adopting “an ideological framework that now not treats the American story as a shared nationwide inheritance to be taught or celebrated, however as a political instrument to divide, dispirit, and discourage our residents.”
The report accuses the museum of “anti-White activism,” “unlawful alien activism,” and “transgender activism.” It additionally contains many photographs of supplies the White Home recognized as problematic.
Requested concerning the report, a spokesperson for the Smithsonian, which oversees 21 museums, galleries and the nationwide zoo, instructed ABC Information in an announcement on Sunday that the establishment stays dedicated to neutral studying.
“For greater than 180 years, the Smithsonian has served the American public with nonpartisan and impartial scholarship, and we stay dedicated to doing so,” the spokesperson mentioned.
The report comes amid an ongoing White Home overview of the Smithsonian in addition to a separate inside overview launched by the Smithsonian into its personal displays and processes.
The White Home overview was launched in response to President Donald Trump’s March 27, 2025 govt order, “Restoring Fact and Sanity to American Historical past.”
Secretary of the Smithsonian Establishment Lonnie Bunch speaks at an occasion, Feb. 20, 2026, in Washington.
Allison Robbert/AP Photograph
The manager order directed Vice President J.D. Vance, in session with the president’s advisers on home coverage, “to take away improper ideology” from Smithsonian establishments, arguing that supplies that solid America in a “destructive mild” don’t have any place in federal cultural establishments.
“The intense issues raised on this report usually are not about just a few displays or just a few controversial labels,” the report says. “Because it stands right this moment, it could profit most Individuals, particularly mother and father bringing their kids for a tour, if the Smithsonian’s flagship historical past museum had a label at each entrance that reads: ‘Warning: the displays on this museum have been ready by individuals who don’t need you to like your nation.'”
Sarah Weicksel, govt director of the American Historic Affiliation (AHA), beforehand instructed ABC Information that the White Home is searching for to create “a narrowly sanitized model of the American previous” at federal cultural establishments “that matches comfortably” into Trump’s govt order.
The AHA, which represents 10,000 historians throughout varied instructional and cultural establishments within the U.S., together with the Smithsonian, has publicly defended the Smithsonian and urged the White Home to “respect and worth the experience of the historians, curators, and different museum professionals who conduct the overview and revision of historic content material based on the skilled requirements of our self-discipline.”
“Historical past is beneath assault proper now, and we’re seeing our experience devalued within the public sphere,” Weicksel told ABC News Live in an interview on Monday. “It’s actually upsetting to see the manager department intervening in our work.”
ABC Information’ John Santucci and Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.
