Trump promised to publicly shame the Smithsonian this summer. So the administration is now installing signs to do it: ‘Anti-white animus’

The Trump administration is reportedly moving forward with signs outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History that would accuse the museum’s leaders of ideological bias. That account appeared in a Tuesday report from The Atlantic.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum set out the plans in a Sept. 3 letter to Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). The two senators had asked for details after Donald Trump directed the signage in a July executive order.

“Donald Trump has not forgotten his midsummer promise to publicly shame the Smithsonian,” The Atlantic’s Kelsey Ables wrote.

Letter from Burgum explains the purpose of the planned outdoor signs

The National Park Service is expected to put up about a dozen temporary signs at the museum. The outlet reported an estimated cost of $84,000. The exact wording has not been decided yet.

Burgum’s letter said the signs will offer visitors “important context about the exhibits they are about to encounter and the personal viewpoints that the curators of the exhibits are seeking to advance.”

He argued that the museum promotes “ideologies that distract from a coherent and accurate presentation of America’s story.” This move follows a broader pattern of administration pressure on cultural institutions, such as when Donald Trump threatened to demolish the Kennedy Center. Burgum added, “This may be the first instance in which executive branch intervention of this nature has become Necessary.”

The letter focuses on museum director Anthea Hartig and outgoing Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch. It points to remarks they have made about race and how American history is shown.

“A commitment to public transparency means that visitors should be informed about Director Hartig’s and other Smithsonian leaders’ history of racial focus,” Burgum wrote.

He also wrote that visitors should be told about “Secretary Lonnie Bunch’s history of invidious discrimination and anti-white animus.” Burgum cited a 2000 essay in which Bunch discussed racial discrimination in the museum profession.

The administration also called out museum materials on transgender Americans and the language used for undocumented immigrants.

In August 2025, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been.” This pattern of public confrontation has extended to other institutions, as seen when the Trump administration chose defiance against judges’ orders regarding the Kennedy Center and the Anti-Weaponization Fund.