Laura: Traditional approaches to history have been jettisoned in favor of ‘restorative history’
Fox News host Laura Ingraham accuses the Smithsonian of promoting a divisive ‘activist agenda’ and ‘restorative history’ that negatively frames America. She highlights National Museum of American History director Anthea Hartig’s testimony regarding the museum’s educational materials and controversial exhibits, including an alleged ‘fetish attire’ display and the exclusion of pro-life history. Ingraham questions the use of taxpayer funds for such programs.
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The Trump administration says it has uncovered evidence that the Smithsonian Institution violated federal nondiscrimination laws and is threatening to withdraw support from its museums unless it corrects course, according to a letter recently made public by the Department of the Interior.
“The administration has recently uncovered evidence that the Smithsonian leadership’s institutional culture may have resulted in significant violations of Federal antidiscrimination law, including creating a hostile work environment and engaging in practices that classify individuals and allocate opportunities, funding and other benefits on the basis of race, ethnicity and other protected characteristics,” a letter sent jointly to the Smithsonian by the DOI and White House reads.
Specific evidence of illegal activity on the part of the Smithsonian was not included in the letter, and the DOI did not provide further information when reached for comment. A recent Fox News Digital investigation found that many leading figures at the Smithsonian, including those involved in hiring, have been strong proponents of diversity, equity and inclusion — something the Trump administration has previously framed as racially discriminatory.
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President Donald Trump blasted the Smithsonian on Truth Social Tuesday for being ‘OUT OF CONTROL’ and ‘woke.’ (Getty Images)
Conservative political leaders, led by President Donald Trump, have accused the Smithsonian of allowing progressive ideology to shape its presentation of American history. An executive order signed in 2025 directed officials to remove what it called “improper ideology,” from the museum.
“The Executive Order signed by the President of the United States clearly states ‘the Secretary of the Interior, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Administrator of General Services, and the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy shall identify and utilize any and all available authorities to promote the policy of this order and to restore trust in the Smithsonian Institution,” a DOI spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
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The Smithsonian Institution said Wednesday that it is reviewing a White House letter announcing a probe of content at several museums for “divisive or partisan narratives.” (Photo by Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP) (Photo by ALEX WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Liberals, meanwhile, have framed conservative criticism of the Smithsonian as a partisan attempt to influence the public presentation of history.
Unless the Smithsonian remedies the issues outlined in the DOI’s recent letter, as well as the general bias which conservatives allege exists at the institution, the administration says it will consider pulling support from it. The threats this time around, however, differ from the ongoing fight over the roughly $1 billion a year in federal funding the Smithsonian receives.
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The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is being called out for being ‘ideologically captured’ and presenting woke revisionist history on the weekend of America’s 250th birthday. (Kevin Carter)
“Those executive departments and agencies cannot in good conscience continue to support the Smithsonian under current leadership by, for example, loaning artifacts for exhibits, enabling procurement processes and making discretionary grants,” the letter reads.
While the letter does not provide specific changes that the administration would like to see from the Smithsonian, it does note that an “appropriate response” from the organization “must likewise address executive leadership and institutional ideology.”
That wording could be significant as the institution operates independently but is overseen by board members appointed by congressional resolutions that the president must sign into law. By October, there will be four openings on the institution’s board of regents, a fact the administration may leverage to increase its influence over the Smithsonian.
DOI requests that representatives from the Smithsonian meet with administration officials “at [their] earliest convenience” to discuss the alleged bias and civil rights violations present at the institution.
WATCH: SMITHSONIAN HISTORY MUSEUM DIRECTOR STUMBLES OVER BASIC QUESTIONS ON SEX: ‘I’M NOT SURE’
From left, Anthea Hartig, director of the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of American History, Mike Gonzalez, Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum Senior Fellow, The Heritage Foundation, and Matthew Spalding, professor in constitutional government and dean of Hillsdale College’s Van Andel Graduate School of Government, testify during the House Oversight and Government Reform Delivering on Government Efficiency Subcommittee hearing titled “Rewriting American History: Examining the Smithsonian’s Efforts to Reshape the Past,” in Rayburn building on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“The museum does not take sides in America’s political debates. We preserve and document the evidence of American life in all of its breadth, so that the public can encounter the past and draw their own conclusions,” National Museum of American History’s director Anthea Hartig said at a July congressional hearing.
The Smithsonian declined to comment on the letter when reached by Fox News Digital on Thursday.
Recent reporting has found that the museum’s leadership and many of its curators have backgrounds in liberal advocacy or Democratic politics. In addition to exhibits at the National Museum of American History, which the Trump administration characterized as demonizing America, even the Smithsonian-run National Zoo is inundated with information about DEI and gender equity.
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The White House did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Thursday.
