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.
Bunch has not addressed the report publicly. In an inside letter to workers that was obtained by ABC Information, he wrote that Smithsonian management is “rigorously” reviewing the report’s findings.
“Whereas there’ll at all times be room for enchancment, this report will not 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 progress,” 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 workers members for his or her “dedication” to their work and their “perception” within the establishment’s mission.
“Day by day, we’re honored to inform America’s tales and maintain that accountability with the utmost regard, respect, and constancy. We stay dedicated to fulfilling our mission for generations to return,” he mentioned.
The White Home didn’t instantly reply to ABC Information’ request for remark.
Bunch’s letter comes days after the White Home Home Coverage Council launched a scathing 162-page report accusing the Smithsonian Establishment of partaking in “excessive political activism” and presenting “a radical view of American historical past.”
The report, which was revealed on Saturday, July 4, significantly took aim at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (NMAH), accusing its management of adopting “an ideological framework that 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 pictures 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, advised 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, which was revealed by the White Home’s Home Coverage Council, comes amid an ongoing White Home evaluate of the Smithsonian in addition to a separate inside evaluate launched by the Smithsonian into its personal reveals and processes. Requested concerning the standing of the interior evaluate, a spokesperson for the Smithsonian didn’t remark.
The White Home evaluate 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 “unfavourable gentle” haven’t any place in federal cultural establishments.
“The intense considerations raised on this report should not about just a few reveals or just a few controversial labels,” the report says. “Because it stands as we speak, it will profit most Individuals, particularly dad and mom bringing their youngsters for a tour, if the Smithsonian’s flagship historical past museum had a label at each entrance that reads: ‘Warning: the reveals on this museum have been ready by individuals who don’t desire you to like your nation.'”
Sarah Weicksel, govt director of the American Historic Affiliation, beforehand advised ABC Information that the White Home is in search of to create “a narrowly sanitized model of the American previous” at federal cultural establishments “that matches comfortably” into Trump’s govt order.
The American Historic Affiliation (AHA), which represents 10,000 historians throughout numerous academic 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 evaluate and revision of historic content material in line with the skilled requirements of our self-discipline.”
“Historical past is below assault proper now, and we’re seeing our experience devalued within the public sphere,” AHA Govt Director Sarah Weicksel told ABC News Live in an interview on Monday. “It’s actually upsetting to see the chief department intervening in our work.”
ABC Information’ John Santucci contributed to this report.
