References to Trump's impeachments are reinstalled at Smithsonian exhibit -- with some slight but crucial changes

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7. Maddow Blog-White House to review Smithsonian exhibits to ensure Trump's views are reflected

As a political matter, Donald Trump and his team have made this a difficult year for the Smithsonian. It’s poised to get much worse.

If Republicans want Trump’s critics to stop calling him an authoritarian, maybe White House officials shouldn’t tell the Smithsonian that they’ll be reviewing exhibits to ensure the president’s views are reflected. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-08-12T18:33:58.090Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/white-house-review-smithsonian-exhibits-ensure-trumps-views-are-reflec-rcna224589

Late last week, the museum restored information about the incumbent president to a display on presidential impeachments, but the new version wasn’t necessarily improved: It made changes to the original and removed some details.

But just because things are bad doesn’t mean they can’t get worse. The Wall Street Journal reported:

The White House plans to conduct a far-reaching review of Smithsonian museum exhibitions, materials and operations ahead of America’s 250th anniversary to ensure the museums align with President Trump’s interpretation of American history. In a letter sent to Lonnie Bunch, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, three top White House officials said they want to ensure the museums’ ‘unity, progress, and enduring values that define the American story’ and reflect the president’s executive order calling for ‘Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.’

The Journal’s report, which has been independently verified by NBC News, added that Team Trump intends to scrutinize everything “from public-facing exhibition text and online content to internal curatorial processes, exhibition planning, the use of collections and artist grants.”.....

Of course, there’s no reason to believe that Americans have lost confidence in the Smithsonian, just as there’s no reason to believe the public will feel greater confidence in the museums after Team Trump advances its wildly unnecessary initiative. (The letter was signed by White House senior associate Lindsey Halligan, the director of the domestic policy council, Vince Haley, and the director of the office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought.)....

The title of the White House’s order from March said the directive was intended to restore “sanity to American history.” Given the circumstances, “sanity” is not the word that comes to mind.