On August 12th, 2025, the White House sent a formal letter to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, ordering a comprehensive review of exhibits, educational materials, and even social-media posts at eight museums. The goal, according to the letter, was to ensure all content aligns with the President’s March executive order to present “uplifting” and “unifying” history and to remove “divisive or ideologically driven” language.

Historians and museum professionals have been quick to respond. The American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians warned in March that the new directives risk turning public history into “ideological litmus tests” rather than scholarly interpretation. As one museum scholar put it: “History is not a Hallmark card.”

Supporters in the administration frame this as “restoring accuracy” and removing political bias from taxpayer-funded exhibits. Critics counter that accuracy here means agreement with the White House’s preferred narrative — and that once you give political actors final approval over historical content, independence is the first casualty.

This push by the Trump administration reignites a battle cry from the right that demands the nation return to teaching the true history of the United States. But no one is asking some very fundamental questions, the first of which is: what exactly is “true history?” That leads to another fundamental question. Who exactly gets to make that determination? But this argument exposes a much deeper problem, and that is the fundamental lack of understanding about what history is in the first place.

This latest episode mentions the work of Historian and Anthropologist Michel-Rolph Trouillot and his theory regarding gaps in the historical record, which he calls “silences.” His work is extraordinary and is a must read for anyone serious about the subject of History.

Music by: Andrii Poradovskyi (lNPLUSMUSIC – Pixabay)

Sources:

American Historical Association. “AHA Statement Condemning Report of Advisory 1776 Commission,” January 20, 2021. AHA

American Historical Association & Organization of American Historians. “AHA–OAH Statement on Executive Order ‘Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling,’” February 5, 2025. AHA

American Historical Association. “Historians Defend the Smithsonian,” March 31, 2025. AHA

Associated Press. “White House Orders a Review of Exhibits at Smithsonian Museums Ahead of Nation’s 250th Birthday,” August 12, 2025. AP News

CBS News. “White House Launching Review of Smithsonian Museums to Root Out ‘Divisive’ Language,” August 12, 2025. CBS News

Office of Management and Budget. M-20-34 and M-20-37 memoranda on diversity training (Sept. 2020). The White House+1

PBS NewsHour. “Smithsonian Removes Trump from an Exhibit’s Impeachment Display (Temporarily),” August 1, 2025. PBS

The White House. Executive Order: Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling, January 29, 2025. The White House

The White House. Executive Order: Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, March 27, 2025. The White House

The White House. Letter to the Smithsonian: Internal Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions and Materials, August 12, 2025. The White House

The Art Newspaper. “White House Launches Review of Smithsonian Museums and Exhibitions,” August 13, 2025. Art Newspaper

The Guardian. “Smithsonian Says It Will Restore Trump Impeachment Exhibits,” August 3, 2025. The Guardian

The White House (archived). The President’s Advisory 1776 Commission Final Report, January 18, 2021. Trump White House Archive

Time Magazine. “‘Critical Race Theory’… Inside the Fight Over What Kids Learn,” June 24, 2021. TIME

Trouillot, Michel-Rolph. Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History. 20th-anniversary ed. Boston: Beacon Press, 2015.

Wall Street Journal. “White House to Vet Smithsonian Museums to Fit Trump’s Historical Vision,” August 12, 2025. The Wall Street Journal

Washington Post. “‘A Hack Job,’ ‘Outright Lies’: Historians on the 1776 Report,” January 19, 2021. The Washington Post

“White House to Lead Review of Some Smithsonian Museums,” August 12, 2025. Reuters