One Problem With Attacking the Smithsonian? Americans Like It.
Despite political pressure from the Trump administration to critique the Smithsonian, public support for the institution remains high. Data suggests that Americans generally trust museums and view them as distinct from other institutions currently facing political scrutiny.
Why it matters
The findings suggest limits to the effectiveness of culture war rhetoric when applied to institutions that maintain high levels of public affection and perceived neutrality.
Coming after a history museum may not be the base-galvanizing issue Trump thinks it is.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Getty; Library of Congress. August 4, 2026, 8 AM ET Share Save Earlier this year, I visited a “ Freedom Truck ,” one of the patriotic mobile museums that the Trump administration is sending around the country for the nation’s 250 birthday. There, I had a wide-ranging conversation with a visitor who complained that the U.S. education system is not teaching what she called true history. But when I mentioned the Smithsonian, her disposition changed entirely. She’d heard rumors about “a lot of liberalism going through the Smithsonian now,” she told me, but added, “I love the Smithsonian. I don’t have a problem with it.”
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