Trump is right about the problems at the Smithsonian

America’s federal museums are unique. The Smithsonian Institution museums and galleries, mostly located in Washington D.C., have millions of annual visitors and admission is almost always free. People of all ages and from all walks of life come to learn about our nation’s past, present and future.

But President Trump is not happy with the Smithsonian’s recent course. In a Truth Social post in August, Trump lambasted the Smithsonian and other museums as “the last remaining segment of ‘WOKE.’” He further critiqued them for discussing “how horrible our country is,” with “Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future.”

Trump announced that his administration would be combing through the Smithsonian institutions to investigate. This statement came on the heels of his earlier executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which directed Vice President JD Vance to lead a systematic rework of the Smithsonian.

Trump’s call was immediately decried by Democrats and members of the media. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said it was “outrageous and un-American.” Sarah Weicksel, executive director of the American Historical Association, told CNN that the move placed at risk “the integrity and accuracy of historical interpretation.” Calling it “political interference,” she said that Trump’s move would “diminish our shared past and threaten to erode the public’s trust in our shared institutions.”

But Weicksel’s statements reflect exactly why the administration should ignore the teeth-gnashing and go full-bore toward redoing the Smithsonian museums: because they are already subject to political interference.

The American History Museum has an exhibit with “animated Latinos and Latinas with disabilities” including “a disabled, plus-sized actress” and an “ambulatory wheelchair user” who identifies as “Latinx, LGBTQ+, and disabled.” The museum’s “LGBTQ+ History” section includes a list of “identities” such as “invert, urning, third sex, two sex, gender-bender, sapphist, hijra, [and] friend of Dorothy.”

In 2020, the museum declared in an info-graphic on its website that “rational thinking” and “hard work” were “white values.”

Benjamin Franklin, an early abolitionist who irritated George Washington’s administration by signing onto an anti-slavery statement, is cast at the American History Museum as someone who was successful because of the “enslaved people” in his household. Slavery is mentioned extensively in explanatory material about Franklin’s scientific achievements.

This is not to say that museums should not include hard truths. But when telling a story as complex as America’s, the storyteller needs to pick and choose which aspects to tell and what the point of the story should be.

Right now, it’s clear why the Smithsonian museums have been run as they have been: The people in charge have a view of America as a fundamentally flawed country, one which is improved with progressivism and diversity. They then alter old exhibits or create new ones around this view. They do not see this as politicized — they see it as the truth, an accurate “historical interpretation.”

This is the wrong way to go about telling the story of America. Yes, our country has flaws — as all countries do. But our federal museums should also seek to highlight what is great about America.

Myth-building is critical to national well-being. You can tell a story about someone with a wart by focusing on their achievements — or you can just focus on the wart. If you do the former, your listener will leave with the understanding that yes, the person had a wart, but he also did good and great things. If you spent half your time talking about how ugly the wart was and half the time talking about how, yeah, they did some good things, your listener will leave confused and likely uninterested in learning more.

There are also unrelated reasons to make changes to the Smithsonian. Many exhibits, such as “The Price of Freedom: Americans at War,” have not been updated for a long time. That particular exhibit — which is well done — stops in the early 2010s.

Plus, there is a notable lack of focus on actual events in American history. Crucial figures — like President Andrew Jackson, who fought in multiple wars and fundamentally changed the nature of U.S. democracy — are often mentioned only in passing.

With America’s 250th anniversary coming up next year, now is the perfect time to make these changes. For America to have a truly golden age, its museums must convey to visitors the light of the shining “city on a hill.” Smithsonian officials should work with the Trump administration to make that happen.

Anthony J. Constantini is a policy analyst at the Bull Moose Project.