Who decides how America remembers its past? Trump's fight over the Smithsonian heads to classrooms nationwide

As America races toward its 250th birthday, an unlikely battleground has emerged: the nation’s museums. What began as a White House-ordered review of Smithsonian exhibitions is now spilling into classrooms nationwide, raising a far bigger question about who gets to decide how America remembers its past?

According to a letter first reported by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by the Associated Press, the White House has directed Smithsonian museums to reframe their public-facing content — from exhibition texts to social media posts — to ensure “alignment with American ideals.” At the heart of this sweeping review is President Donald Trump ’s push to recast the country’s story in his own terms: one of American exceptionalism, stripped of what he calls “divisive or partisan narratives.”

The Smithsonian, for its part, has said in a statement reported by AP that it “remains committed to scholarly excellence, rigorous research, and the accurate, factual presentation of history.” But the stakes stretch far beyond curatorial debates in Washington’s museum corridors. Teachers, students, and historians worry the changes could reshape the way history itself is taught.

From museums to classrooms
High school history teacher Katharina Matro, who often relies on Smithsonian lesson plans and digitized collections, told AP she now fears that trust may be broken.

“We don’t want a partisan history,” Matro, who teaches in Bethesda, Maryland, said. “We want the history that’s produced by real historians.”

Her worry is not abstract. More than 80% of history teachers report using free Smithsonian and federal archives resources, according to an American Historical Association survey cited by AP. If those materials are rewritten to fit a narrower vision of America, educators fear students will lose access to complex, inclusive accounts of the nation’s past.

Tina Ellsworth, president of the National Council for the Social Studies, echoed those concerns, telling AP that history teachers are “leery of sources that push partisanship” and warned that sanitizing narratives “isn’t good educational practice.”

Trump’s vision of history
The Smithsonian review is the latest in a string of interventions by Trump into America’s cultural institutions. Earlier this year, AP reported that he replaced the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees with his allies and even named himself chairman, pledging to end drag performances there.

In March, he signed an executive order titled Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, accusing the Smithsonian of being influenced by a “race-centered ideology.” More recently, he complained on social media that its exhibits focus too much on “how horrible our Country is” and not enough on success or the future.

During a recent walk through the National Museum of American History, an AP reporter noted that the museum displays both pride and pain: George Washington’s uniform, Dorothy’s ruby slippers, Thomas Edison’s light bulbs, but also shackles of enslaved people and banners decrying colonialism. These ambiguities — American genius alongside American injustice are precisely what Trump’s review seeks to curtail.

What’s at stake for students

For teachers like Matro in Maryland and Michael Heiman in Alaska, the Smithsonian has been more than a museum; it’s a classroom partner. Heiman told AP he often sent students on virtual scavenger hunts through its collections, a culturally inclusive experience he worries may disappear.

“We are further quieting voices that are important to our country,” Heiman said. “We are also restricting certain kids in those underrepresented populations to really understand more about their past.”

Russell Jeung, a San Francisco State professor and co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, told AP he expects projects like the Smithsonian’s video series on anti-Asian racism — in which he participated during the pandemic — will likely be shelved. “The tragedy again and the loss,” he said, “is that we won’t get the national recognition that we deserve.”

A broader campaign

The Smithsonian review doesn’t stand alone. As part of the 250th anniversary celebrations, the Education Department has launched the Founders Museum in partnership with conservative media nonprofit PragerU. Visitors to the exhibit, housed in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and on the White House website, can view glossy biographies of the Declaration’s signers and videos depicting them speaking.

“Real patriotic education means that just as our founders loved and honored America, so we should honor them,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a PragerU video introducing the project.

Critics argue that while the Founders Museum includes figures like Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved woman who became the first published Black female poet in the US, it also downplays slavery, colonialism, and other “darker” chapters of history.

The bigger question
Historians like Sam Redman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst say the chilling effect is already visible. He told AP his students once dreamed of working at the Smithsonian; this year, none have expressed interest.

“This is a pressing concern, no doubt about it,” Redman said.

For now, the Smithsonian insists it will maintain factual rigor even as it “collaborates constructively” with the White House. But with Trump’s directives reaching into classrooms, textbooks, and federal curricula, the battle is no longer just about museum labels.

It’s about the stories America tells itself, and the generations who will grow up believing them.