2026-09-03T11:35:19.490Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/03/politics/trump-administration-smithsonian-letter-executive-agencies
特朗普政府暗示，若史密森学会领导层不做出改变，联邦各机构可能停止与其合作，这场旨在将这座全球最大博物馆群纳入其政策轨道的数月施压行动正不断升级。
在近日公开的8月28日致史密森学会管理机构的信函中，政府官员表示，联邦机构无法“问心无愧”地支持该学会，可能会停止“出借展品用于展览、支持采购流程以及提供可自由支配的拨款”。他们援引白宫一份报告称，位于华盛顿特区的美国国家历史博物馆正在宣扬“极端政治激进主义”。
这一迹象表明，特朗普政府正考虑采取更激进的措施，对史密森学会的内容施加影响。该学会一直试图保持独立，尽管其展览内容正受到前所未有的审查。唐纳德·特朗普总统已指示助手清除博物馆内的“觉醒”意识形态以及他认为的美国历史改写行为。
“这些担忧源于史密森学会的行政领导层和机构意识形态，因此适当的应对措施也必须针对行政领导层和机构意识形态，”内政部长道格·伯古姆和白宫国内政策委员会主任文斯·黑利在信中写道。
他们还写道，政府“近日发现证据”表明，史密森学会的“机构文化可能已严重违反联邦反歧视法”，但未提供具体案例。CNN已联系史密森学会和内政部门征求置评并获取更多信息。
这座拥有179年历史的机构是独特的公私合作信托机构，并不认为自己是行政机构，但联邦政府为其提供了三分之二的预算。美国政府还经常与史密森学会在博物馆项目和研究项目上开展合作。
在信中，官员们要求史密森学会的摄政委员会与他们当面会谈，讨论7月4日发布的白宫调查结果。美国国家历史博物馆馆长安德丽亚·哈蒂格在7月的国会听证会上表示，这份报告“并未公平、准确地描述该博物馆的全部工作”。
“该博物馆在美国的政治辩论中不偏袒任何一方。我们保护并记录美国生活方方面面的证据，以便公众能够接触历史并自行得出结论，”她说道。
这封信发出前几周，特朗普下令国家公园管理局在美国历史博物馆附近设置临时标牌，警告馆内展览存在“不准确信息”。
白宫对史密森学会的审查可追溯至2025年3月，当时特朗普签署行政命令，指示副总统JD·万斯为史密森学会摄政委员会任命符合其政策优先事项的公众成员。数月后，白宫启动了史无前例的全面审查，要求该学会提供有关其博物馆展览和运营的大量文件。
摄政委员会成员包括首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨、两党国会议员以及大多为前企业高管和非营利组织董事会成员的公众代表。
根据史密森学会网站上的任期图表，9名公众摄政中有两人的任期已届满，另有两个职位将在10月初前空缺。这可能让特朗普有机会在11月中期选举改变国会构成之前，扩大自己对该委员会的影响力。新董事会成员需通过国会联合决议任命，且需总统签署生效。
CNN今年早些时候曾报道称，公民成员一致认为史密森学会应保持独立，不受政府干预。
自2019年起担任该学会负责人的朗尼·邦奇三世在5月接受CNN采访时表示，该学会在配合白宫提供信息请求的同时，一直保持着自主权。
“我的目标是，历史由学术研究驱动，而非党派政治，”他说。“史密森学会始终开展自己的学术研究，这一直是我们的行事准则。我们始终与不同届政府合作，但核心始终是我们的学术研究结论。”
CNN的蕾妮·马什、阿丽娜·法亚兹和迈克尔·威廉姆斯为本报道贡献了内容。
Trump administration says agencies may stop working with the Smithsonian
2026-09-03T11:35:19.490Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/03/politics/trump-administration-smithsonian-letter-executive-agencies
The Trump administration has suggested federal agencies may stop working with the Smithsonian Institution if its leadership does not change, ramping up a monthslong pressure campaign to align the world’s largest museum complex with its views.
In an August 28 letter to the Smithsonian’s governing body that was recently made public, administration officials said government agencies cannot “in good conscience” support the institution and may cease “loaning artifacts for exhibits, enabling procurement processes and making discretionary grants,” citing a White House report that claimed the institution was promoting “extreme political activism” at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.
It’s a sign that the Trump administration is considering more aggressive measures to exert influence on content at the Smithsonian, which has tried to maintain its independence despite unprecedented scrutiny of its programming. President Donald Trump has tasked aides with rooting out “woke” ideology and what he considers a rewriting of American history at the museums.
“Because these concerns arise from executive leadership and institutional ideology at the Smithsonian, the appropriate response must likewise address executive leadership and institutional ideology,” wrote Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Vince Haley, the director of the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, in the letter.
They also wrote that the administration has “recently uncovered evidence” that the Smithsonian’s “institutional culture may have resulted in significant violations of Federal antidiscrimination law” without providing examples. CNN has reached out to the Smithsonian and the Interior Department for comment and more information.
While the 179-year-old institution is a unique public-private trust and does not consider itself an executive agency, the federal government supplies two-thirds of its budget. The government also frequently collaborates with the Smithsonian on museum initiatives and research projects.
In the letter, the officials asked the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents to meet with them in person to discuss the White House’s findings, which were released on July 4. The National Museum of American History’s Director, Andrea Hartig, said at a July congressional hearing that the report “does not fairly or accurately characterize the full body of work at the museum.”
“The museum does not take sides in America’s political debates. We preserve and document the evidence of American life in all of its breadth, so that the public can encounter the past and draw their own conclusions,” she said.
The letter comes weeks after Trump ordered the National Park Service to install temporary signage near the American history museum that warned of “inaccurate information” in the exhibits.
White House scrutiny of the Smithsonian dates back to March 2025, when Trump signed an executive order directing Vice President JD Vance to seek the appointment of public members to the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents who are aligned with his priorities for the institution. Months later, the White House launched an unprecedented, sweeping review of the Smithsonian, asking for extensive documents about its museum exhibitions and operations.
Members of the board include Chief Justice John Roberts, Republican and Democratic members of Congress, and members of the public who are mostly former business executives and nonprofit board members.
Two of nine public regents’ terms have expired and two other spots will open up by the beginning of October, according to a term chart on the Smithsonian website. This could give Trump a chance to try to expand his influence on the board before the November midterm elections shake up Congress. New board members are appointed via congressional joint resolutions that the president must sign into law.
CNN reported earlier this year that there is unanimity among the citizen members that the Smithsonian should remain independent and not be influenced by the administration.
Lonnie Bunch III, the institution’s head since 2019, told CNN in a May interview that the institution has maintained its autonomy as it complied with the White House’s request for information.
“My goal is that history is driven by scholarship, not partisanship,” he said. “The Smithsonian always does its own scholarship. It’s always driven by that. We have always worked with different administrations, but it’s always about what our scholarship tells us.”
CNN’s Renee Marsh, Aleena Fayaz and Michael Williams contributed to this report.