The Audio Long Read Trump’s assault on the Smithsonian: ‘The goal is to reframe the entire culture of the US’
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Feb 6, 2026 Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian's chief culture writer, unpacks her investigation into White House pressure on the Smithsonian. She traces public firings, legal pushback from the Board of Regents, and an executive order targeting diversity programs. The conversation highlights museums as a frontline in a campaign to reframe US history and the resulting curatorial self-censorship and institutional anxieties.
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Director Publicly Targeted By The President
- Kim Sayet was publicly denounced by President Trump on social media and felt immediate pressure despite unclear authority for his action.
- She resigned shortly after to defuse the situation, illustrating the chilling personal impact of presidential targeting.
Culture Reframing As A Political Strategy
- The administration aims to reframe the entire culture of the United States by reshaping museums' narratives to be nationalist and triumphalist.
- Targeting museums is part of a broader strategy to control education, universities, and public imagination.
Smithsonian's Structural Vulnerability
- The Smithsonian's partial federal funding and Board of Regents linkage make it uniquely vulnerable to political pressure.
- Threats include public denunciations, budget cuts, and leveraging tax-exempt status to coerce private institutions.