Smithsonian faces Trump’s culture war as search for leader is on

As the Smithsonian Institution prepares to launch a nationwide search for a new leader, an unexpected question mark hangs over the position that’s long been considered a plum one in the worlds of art, science and history. “Who wants to sign up to deal with the political pressure?” one person close to the Smithsonian Board of Regents board told CNN. The search is one of the most consequential in decades, coming at a time of great turmoil. The storied institution is squarely in the crosshairs of a culture war pushed by President Donald Trump, whose administration this week revealed how it plans to install signs outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to “correct” allegedly inaccurate and “woke” information in the exhibits.