How Trump Is Changing America's Museums and Cultural Institutions

President Trump has made major changes to America's museums and arts organizations since returning to office. His administration has fired workers, cut funding, replaced exhibits, and issued executive orders targeting well-known institutions like the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian runs more than 21 museums across the country, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Trump says these changes are needed to make sure museums tell what he calls a more truthful version of American history.

During his first term, Trump spoke out against removing statues that honored Confederate figures — soldiers who fought against the United States during the Civil War. He also created the 1776 Commission, which was meant to promote what he called 'patriotic education.' But in his second term, Trump has taken much stronger action against arts and cultural groups.

On July 4, 2026, the White House released a 162-page report called 'Saving America's Story.' The report listed many complaints about the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. It said the museum was too focused on left-leaning political ideas and that America's founders, like Benjamin Franklin, were not celebrated enough. The report also accused the museum of showing content about gender and sexuality that it called inappropriate.

In February 2025, Trump fired half of the leadership board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. He then named 14 new board members, including second lady Usha Vance. The new board voted to make Trump the chairman and to rename the center after him. However, a court order in May said Trump's name had to be removed right away because Congress had never approved the name change.

Also in February 2025, Trump signed an executive order aimed at cutting government spending and staff. After this order, the National Endowment for the Humanities laid off about 100 workers — roughly 70 percent of its staff. The agency also canceled about $100 million in grants, which are funds given to support research and cultural projects. More than a year later, in May 2026, a federal judge ruled that canceling 1,400 of those grants was unconstitutional and ordered them to be restored.

In March 2025, Trump signed another executive order that cut staffing and money for seven government agencies, including two connected to museums and libraries. Many workers were laid off or placed on leave before courts stepped in to slow the cuts. Several groups took the matter to court and got injunctions, which are legal orders that pause or stop an action.

Later in March 2025, Trump signed an order called 'Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.' This order focused on the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the planned Smithsonian American Women's History Museum. The order said no Smithsonian funding should support what it called 'improper ideology.' It also directed that any monuments removed from public display for political reasons should be put back up.

In October 2025, a statue of Confederate General Albert Pike was put back up in Washington, D.C., after it had been torn down during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. The National Park Service restored it under Trump's executive order, even though many people protested the decision. Pike had supported slavery and resigned in disgrace from the Confederate army. Washington, D.C.'s city council had wanted the statue removed since 1992.

In July 2026, the Trump administration replaced an exhibit about slavery at the former home of George Washington in Philadelphia. The original exhibit, installed in 2010, described how nine enslaved people lived in the house with George and Martha Washington during the 1790s. The city of Philadelphia sued to stop the removal, but an appeals court eventually allowed the replacement exhibit to go forward.

Also in July 2026, Congress called the Smithsonian's top leader, Anthea M. Hartig, to answer questions at a hearing called 'Rewriting American History.' Lawmakers questioned her about changes to the Smithsonian's mission statement and about exhibits they said were inappropriate. The hearing showed how much tension exists between the Trump administration and the nation's leading cultural institutions.

On July 24, 2026, Trump signed yet another executive order directing the government to put up temporary signs along the walkways outside the National Museum of American History. The signs tell visitors that the museum needs to be updated to show more accurate information. Supporters of the museum say it already tells accurate history and that the administration is trying to control what Americans learn about the past.