White House report brands Smithsonian museum 'ideologically captured'
The White House released a 162-page report accusing the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History of extreme political activism and of erasing the nation's story. The report, 'Saving America's Story,' grew out of an executive order Trump signed in March 2025 ordering 'improper ideology' stripped from the Smithsonian.
- Written by the White House Domestic Policy Council, the report says the museum's leadership has been captured by a radical activist ideology and singles out its director, Anthea Hartig, for advancing an agenda contrary to the museum's founding purpose.
- It contrasts the museum offering no July-4th-only programming in 2026, the year of the nation's 250th anniversary, with its extensive 2025 Pride Month events, and cites teaching materials on gender fluidity and 'whiteness.'
- The Smithsonian rejected the findings, saying it has served the public with 'nonpartisan and independent scholarship' for more than 180 years.
Why it mattersFor most of the past century the Smithsonian was treated as neutral ground, the closest thing America had to an official memory. A sitting White House publishing a 162-page indictment of one of its museums is a sign that even the national attic is now contested territory, and that both sides now assume the institutions meant to define the country can no longer be shared.
The White House, 'Saving Americ… ↗ · Jul 7, 2026 · ✓ Checked