The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History has become a taxpayer-backed institution of “ideological capture” and “extreme political activism,” according to a new White House report released July 4.
The 162-page Domestic Policy Council report, titled “Saving America’s Story: How Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage,” documents how the museum’s leadership has abandoned straightforward historical education in favor of a radical activist agenda.
“The report concludes that the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of American History in particular, under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic.”
The council specifically singled out museum director Anthea Hartig, arguing she has transformed the museum into an instrument of her own “social justice” agenda.
The report emerged from President Trump’s March 27, 2025, executive order aimed at purging “revisionist” and ideological materials from U.S. history references and exhibits at taxpayer-funded museums and sites.
Among the most damning evidence: a 2020 statement Hartig made during the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in which she declared, “We work to reframe the traditional, celebratory narrative of U.S. history for visitors.”
That statement encapsulates the problem, according to the White House.
The council documented how ideological capture has moved the museum’s mission away from its congressionally mandated purpose toward extreme political activism that seeks to transform the country.
White House report accuses Smithsonian museum of ‘extreme political activism’ and erasing nation’s heritage
The 162-page report on the National Museum of American History marks an escalation of President Donald Trump’s criticism of the Smithsonian museums.… pic.twitter.com/Iy2VklgysM
— Tony Seruga (@TonySeruga) July 6, 2026
The report criticizes the museum’s approach to race, immigration, gender, and sexuality, alleging that exhibits and programming have been shaped by modern activist priorities rather than neutral historical scholarship.
The museum has no major exhibit dedicated to the American founding era — including the Founding Fathers, the Continental Congress, or major moments of the American Revolution.
Congress approved the museum in 1955 to tell the national story of the United States and to “place before” visitors “a stimulating permanent exposition that commemorates our heritage of freedom and highlights the basic elements of our way of life.”
The Domestic Policy Council provided citations of evidence from the museum itself and Hartig’s public statements to support its findings.
The report marks an escalation of President Trump’s criticism of the Smithsonian museums and signals that federal oversight of taxpayer-funded cultural institutions is tightening under his administration.
