Ever since he returned to the White House in 2025, President Trump has sought control of the Smithsonian Institution, aiming to limit its independence and mold it into what he has described as a “symbol of inspiration and American greatness.” On Tuesday, the secretary of the Smithsonian, Lonnie G. Bunch III, announced that he would resign. The institution’s Board of Regents will name a replacement.

The Smithsonian includes 21 museums, libraries, research centers and the National Zoo. As Mr. Trump made clear in an executive order last year, he believes the institution portrays “American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive,” in part by focusing too much on race. His administration has demanded a comprehensive review of exhibitions at some Smithsonian museums, and it has accused the National Museum of American History of anti-white bias and of distorting the nation’s founding.

In an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” Mr. Trump criticized what he called a “revisionist movement” that undermines the country’s achievements by “casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.” The order claimed that the Smithsonian had “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology” that promotes “narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.” Mr. Trump called on Vice President JD Vance to work with Congress to prohibit expenditures on exhibitions or programs that “degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with federal law.” The National Museum of American History removed a label referring to Mr. Trump’s impeachments in 2019 and 2021. The removal came after the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents committed itself to reviewing the museum’s content under pressure from the administration. In a letter to Mr. Bunch, the White House said it would conduct a sweeping review of exhibitions at eight Smithsonian museums, assessing “tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals.” The Trump administration published a list of roughly two dozen Smithsonian exhibits, programming and artwork it saw as problematic.

It included a series at the National Museum of African American History and Culture designed to educate visitors about white culture; a drawing depicting migrants watching Independence Day fireworks through a hole in the U.S.-Mexico border wall; and a papier-mâché Statue of Liberty holding tomatoes.