As the Trump administration accuses Smithsonian leadership of participating in “ideological activism,” the Interior Department is now threatening to cut off federal agencies’ cooperation in the curation and funding of exhibits at the world’s largest museum complex.
The threat was communicated in a letter that was sent by the Interior Department to the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents — the governing body that oversees the institution.
“As you are aware, it is the executive branch’s responsibility to ensure that taxpayer funds and the support the Smithsonian receives from executive departments and agencies are used to preserve America’s precious cultural inheritance, not advance a divisive, ideological agenda,” the department’s letter said.
It added, “In addition to the more than $1 billion appropriated to the Smithsonian by Congress each year, the Smithsonian enjoys support from executive departments and agencies. Those executive departments and agencies cannot in good conscience continue to support the Smithsonian under current leadership by, for example, loaning artifacts for exhibits, enabling procurement processes and making discretionary grants.”
In this April 20, 2026, file photo, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, testifies before the House Appropriations Committee’s budget hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP, FILE
A spokesperson for the Smithsonian declined to comment on Thursday when asked about the letter by ABC News.
The letter, which was signed by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and White House domestic policy assistant Vince Haley, asked board members to meet “in person,” and “at your earliest convenience” with the Interior Department officials “to determine how best to address” the issues outlined in the letter.
In accusing Smithsonian leadership of “ideological activism,” the letter cited a scathing 162-page July 4 report published by the White House Domestic Policy Council, which accused the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (NMAH) and its leadership of engaging in “extreme political activism” and presenting “a radical view of American history.”
The report accuses the museum of “anti-White activism,” “illegal alien activism,” and “transgender activism.” It also includes many photos of materials the White House has identified as problematic.
NMAH Director Anthea Hartig pushed back against the White House’s report while publicly testifying in a pair of House congressional hearings in July, where she asserted that the museum “does not take sides” in political debates.
“Our work is governed by the Smithsonian standards of scholarship, accuracy, independence, and nonpartisanship,” Hartig said in her opening remarks before a House Subcommittee on Delivering Government Efficiency. “The museum does not take sides in America’s political debates. We preserve and document the evidence of American life in all of its breadth, so that the public can encounter the past and draw their own conclusions.”
Hartig, who is the first top Smithsonian official to publicly address these accusations before Congress, added that while the Smithsonian “takes the concerns raised” in the White House report “seriously,” the report “does not fairly or accurately” represent the museum’s work.
In this July 30, 2026, file photo, visitors arrive at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
Nathan Howard/Reuters, FILE
The July 4 report did not specify action points related to correcting the so-called “activism,” but did reference the fact that the Smithsonian Institution is largely funded by the federal government and U.S. taxpayers.
“That means the public has a right to expect that it will operate as a faithful steward of the Nation’s historic and cultural heritage, not as a vehicle for ideological campaigns,” the report says.
In this Feb. 20, 2026, file photo, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Lonnie Bunch speaks at an event to present first lady Melania Trump’s 2025 inaugural ball gown to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, in Washington, D.C.
Allison Robbert/AP, FILE
According to the Smithsonian Institution, which oversees 21 museums and galleries and the National Zoo, it currently receives more than $1 billion in federal funding — about 62% of its funding — and the remainder of the funds come from “trust funds or non-federal funds, including contributions from private sources” and revenues from Smithsonian enterprises.
Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch has been leading the Smithsonian since 2019, but the institution is governed by the 17-member Board of Regents.
Bunch, who met with President Donald Trump at the White House in August 2025, has repeatedly affirmed the Smithsonian’s “independence” from political influence.
Referencing his conversations with Trump in a September 2025 letter to the institution’s employees, Bunch underscored the independence of the Smithsonian, saying it was “paramount.” He also told employees that the institution remains committed to telling the “American story” and “will always be, a place that welcomes all Americans and the world.”