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Smithsonian Head Steps Down Amid Clash with Trump Administration
Confirmed
In Short: Lonnie Bunch III, the head of the Smithsonian Institution, announced his retirement amid tensions with the Trump administration over the leadership and direction of the nation's museums.
Lonnie Bunch III, who has led the Smithsonian since 2019 and was the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, said he will leave the post by the end of the year, according to reports.
The pressure on Bunch followed a 2025 executive order directing officials to seek the removal of what the administration called 'improper ideology' from the Smithsonian. The administration accused the institution's leadership of allowing progressive ideology to shape its presentation of American history and raising concerns about potential violations of federal nondiscrimination law.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who serves as chancellor of the Smithsonian, praised Bunch’s tenure and said the institution would work with him to ensure a smooth transition. Bunch first joined the Smithsonian in 1978 and has spent nearly four decades at the institution, apart from a period when he served as president of the Chicago Historical Society.
According to a letter recently made public by the Department of the Interior, the administration said the Smithsonian leadership’s 'institutional culture may have resulted in significant violations of Federal antidiscrimination law,' including allegedly creating a hostile work environment and allocating opportunities, funding, and other benefits based on race, ethnicity, and other protected characteristics.
Bunch's departure comes as the Trump administration has intensified scrutiny of the Smithsonian, accusing its leadership of allowing progressive ideology to shape its presentation of American history. Bunch became the Smithsonian’s 14th secretary in June 2019, making him the first African American and first historian to hold the position. He previously led the creation of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, serving as its founding director from 2005 through its opening in 2016.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- The head of the Smithsonian Institution announced his retirement Tuesday, stepping down amid an escalating clash with the Trump administration over the leadership and direction of the nation’s museums.
- "It is with very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude that I announce my retirement from the Smithsonian," Bunch said in a press release.
- Laura Ingraham exposes the left-wing curators behind radical exhibits at the Smithsonian.
- “Once widely respected as a symbol of American excellence and a global icon of cultural achievement, the Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology,” the order said.