The White House plans to examine the exhibitions and materials in the Smithsonian to ensure that they align with President Donald Trump’s directives to celebrate America’s exceptionalism, and the leftist meltdown has already begun.
On Tuesday, the White House posted a letter on its website that read, “Letter to the Smithsonian: Internal Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions and Materials” in order to support a “broader vision of excellence that highlights historically accurate, uplifting, and inclusive portrayals of America’s heritage.”
READ MORE: Presidential Display Mentioning Trump Back Up at Smithsonian—and It’s Obvious Why They Had to Fix It
White House notifies Smithsonian of forthcoming “internal review” of Smithsonian exhibits
“..To ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives & restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions” pic.twitter.com/GTASzwrEDt
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) August 12, 2025
It said that ahead of the celebration for the 250th anniversary of our Nation’s founding, the White House will be “leading a comprehensive internal review of selected Smithsonian museums and exhibitions. This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
It pointed out that the review is a “constructive and collaborative effort — one rooted in respect for the Smithsonian’s vital mission and its extraordinary contributions.”
The review will focus on several areas:
Public-facing Content: A review of exhibition text, wall didactics, websites, educational materials, and digital and social media content to assess tone, historical framing, and alignment with American ideals.
Curatorial Process: A series of interviews with curators and senior staff to better understand the selection process, exhibition approval workflows, and any frameworks currently guiding exhibition content.
Exhibition Planning: A review of current and future exhibitions, with particular attention to those planned for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Collection Use: Evaluation of how existing materials and collections are being used or could be used to highlight American achievement and progress, including whether the Smithsonian can make better use of certain materials by digitizing or conveying to other institutions.
Narrative Standards: The development of consistent curatorial guidelines that reflect the Smithsonian’s original mission.
As you can expect with every move that comes out of the White House, lefties are already freaking out about the review, with references to monarchs and more.
Veteran Democrat strategist David Axelrod wrote on X: “The White House plans to conduct a far-reaching review of Smithsonian museum exhibitions, materials, and operations ahead of America’s 250th anniversary. The guys who declared their independence from a mad king 249 yrs ago would have lots to say about THIS!”
The White House plans to conduct a far-reaching review of Smithsonian museum exhibitions, materials and operations ahead of America’s 250th anniversary
The guys who declared their independence from a mad king 249 yrs ago would have lots to say about THIS! https://t.co/n6GVbgXACi
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) August 12, 2025
Mother Jones’ Dan Friedman wrote: “The White House pressuring the Smithsonian to ‘eliminate political influence’ from its presentation of history is some freaky Orwellian […].”
One quick note, the quote attributed by Friedman appears in the Wall Street Journal report and is not in the letter from the White House.
And then there are the headlines by lefty outlets like the Daily Beast, which really took things another step.
It read, “Trump’s initiative to Make American History Great Again is now threatening to bulldoze Smithsonian exhibits.”
Trump’s initiative to Make American History Great Again is now threatening to bulldoze Smithsonian exhibits.https://t.co/d77ZRfsDGB
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) August 12, 2025
Or Politico, which can always be counted on for giving Americans an unbiased view of the news. (This is obviously sarcasm.)
The outlet’s headline read, “White House announces Smithsonian review amid Trump’s cultural reckoning.”
White House announces Smithsonian review amid Trump’s cultural reckoning https://t.co/3Yn1lsnkvi
— POLITICO (@politico) August 12, 2025
The most recent leftist meltdown involving Trump and the Smithsonian had to do with reports in July that the Trump administration reportedly had removed references about him from an impeachment exhibit, as my RedState colleague Jim Thompson reported.
However, those reports were later updated to reflect that Trump’s name was back and that changes were made, not with any direction from the administration, as some tried to suggest, RedState reported.
Smithsonian puts Trump’s name back in museum’s impeachment display – with changes https://t.co/0LXVmDUBkk
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) August 12, 2025
The USA Today report read:
“We were not asked by any Administration or other government official to remove content from the exhibit,” it said, telling USA TODAY in a separate statement that, “A future and updated exhibit will include all impeachments,” noting that updating and renewing permanent galleries “requires a significant amount of time and funding.”
An updated exhibit was unveiled on August 8.
“At the heart of the Smithsonian’s work is a steadfast commitment to scholarship, rigorous research, and the accurate, factual presentation of history,” the institute said in a statement shared with USA TODAY on August 11. “The National Museum of American History has completed its update to the Impeachment case within ‘The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden’ exhibition. The updated display now reflects all presidential impeachments.”
Editor’s Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.
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