How the Smithsonian Could Fall
The Trump administration is attempting to exert greater control over the Smithsonian Institution, labeling it a 'historical and legal anomaly.' The White House has criticized the museum complex for allegedly promoting activist ideologies and failing to tell a patriotic version of American history.
Why it matters
This conflict highlights the ongoing tension between political administrations and independent cultural institutions regarding the interpretation of national history.
A president cracking down on museums is unusual—but so are the museums.
July 16, 2026, 7:30 AM ET Share Save The Trump administration wants to control the Smithsonian, but it won’t be so easy. When experts talk about the institution’s relationship to the federal government, the world’s largest museum complex can start to sound like a bureaucratic outcast. The Office of Legal Counsel has called the Smithsonian a “very unusual entity” and a “historical and legal anomaly.” A law-journal article describes it as “Quasi-Government at the Private Border.” One attorney told me that it resides in the legal “netherworld.”
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