As we continue to celebrate the 250th birthday of America, we look to many of the nation's museums to be the curators of valuable artifacts of American history. Being able to look at actual objects that helped to shape the nation makes our story come alive in ways it could not just by reading books. But a scathing new White House report shows that one of the nation's most important museums of American history is being completely taken over by left-wing activists, and the tax-paying public is footing the bill.
The Smithsonian was built to preserve America's story, not rewrite it.
— America First Policy Institute (@A1Policy) July 5, 2026
A new report by the Domestic Policy Council reveals how the National Museum of American History is erasing our heritage by prioritizing its own ideological narratives ⬇️
The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History (NMAH) is a fully taxpayer-funded entity. But instead of telling the story of actual American history, the new report says that it has become an institution of "ideological capture" and "extreme political activism." This is what the White House Domestic Policy Council wrote in the July 4 report, which was a follow-up to a March 27 executive order from President Trump:
The report concludes that the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of American History in particular, under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic. By the intention and at the direction of current Museum and Smithsonian leadership, NMAH has become subject to institutional capture by a radical, activist ideology that is fundamentally opposed to telling the noble, honest story of the great country we know and love.
The 162-page report is entitled, "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History." However, 162 pages might not be needed to see what, or rather who, might be the problem. Anthea Hartig has been the director of the NMAH since 2019. She has expressly stated that she views history as a "prime tool of social justice" and that her role in particular is to connect "research and scholarship to activism and advocacy."
Heritage Expert on New Smithsonian Report: The National Museum of American History Has Become Wholly Un-American
— James Jay Carafano (@JJCarafano) July 6, 2026
July 6, 2026https://t.co/qOQqQlG9oS
The five main conclusions found in the report are:
- An attempt to "subvert" America's founding and cancel the founders, only mentioning them in the context of their ties to slavery.
- The 250th birthday of America, the one we continue to celebrate, has been "problematized."
- Words have been changed from historical terms to loaded modern political activist terms.
- It "abandoned historical scholarship for political activism."
- It failed "obligations" to the American people.
The report goes on to say:
Instead, visitors will find Founders, such as Benjamin Franklin, introduced chiefly through their connection to slavery while their decisive roles in building the Republic and their anti-slavery efforts are minimized or ignored.
The report goes on to call out the Museum's leadership, which has made use of every leftist talking point on American history, calling for it to be "reframed," and described the Museum's work with woke buzzwords like "reparations," "restorative history," "systemic intervention," "colonization," and "social justice." The report sums up what's happening at NMAH, saying, "The Museum is not merely neglecting America’s central story. It is intentionally withholding and subverting it." As stated above, the Smithsonian Institution is the recipient of more than $1 billion in taxpayer support every year.
ALSO READ: Rubio Hits It Out of the Park With a Banger of an America 250 Message
President Trump does not have the authority to fire anyone at the Smithsonian, but this report may have him thinking about bringing in his own people. Ms. Hartig may believe otherwise, but America's museums are not the place for woke social justice. They are the place to tell the real story of America, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The White House has issued a 162-page report accusing the leadership of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History of extremism "to divide, dispirit, and discourage our citizens.” https://t.co/sP1JAkggQY
— Steve Herman (@newsguyusa) July 6, 2026
https://t.co/xbzWIOOIwq
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