The Atlantic reports the Trump administration plans to spend about $84,000 to mount roughly a dozen temporary signs on National Park Service sidewalks outside Smithsonian properties, alleging "ideological bias." Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's Sept. 3 letter to Senators Jeff Merkley and Lisa Murkowski outlines the proposed framing and cites a 162-page White House report. The signs would target outdoor spaces because an executive order cannot directly change museum exhibits or leadership, and the proposal has drawn criticism for politicizing public museum spaces.
Trump Administration to Spend $84K on Signs Accusing Smithsonian of “Ideological Bias”
President Donald Trump and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.Getty
The Atlantic reports that the Trump administration plans to spend roughly $84,000 to install about a dozen temporary signs on National Park Service–maintained sidewalks outside Smithsonian properties, alleging the museums show "ideological bias." The disclosure follows a Sept. 3 letter from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to Senators Jeff Merkley and Lisa Murkowski and stems from an executive order issued in July directing signage be posted outside Smithsonian sites.
What The Plan Would Do
According to reporting, the proposed placards would provide visitors with what the administration describes as "important context about the exhibits they are about to encounter and the personal viewpoints that the curators of the exhibits are seeking to advance." The exact wording of the signs had not been finalized, and The Atlantic quoted an anonymous source saying the final copy "remains a mystery."
An exterior shot of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in 2021.Win McNamee via Getty Images
“This may be the first instance in which executive branch intervention of this nature has become Necessary,” Burgum reportedly wrote, citing a 162-page White House report that accuses the museum of promoting "ideologies that distract from a coherent and accurate presentation of America's story."
Targets and Criticism
Burgum's letter reportedly singled out exhibitions addressing undocumented immigrants and transgender Americans as examples of material the administration views as problematic. The letter also criticized comments and decisions by Smithsonian leaders, including National Museum of American History Director Dr. Anthea Hartig and outgoing Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch. Burgum reportedly wrote that visitors should be informed about what he called the Smithsonian leadership's "history of racial focus" and accused Bunch of "invidious discrimination and anti-white animus," citing a lengthy essay Bunch wrote about racial discrimination in the museum field.
Context And Reaction
Because the executive order applies to outdoor areas maintained by the National Park Service, it cannot directly force changes to museum exhibits or leadership. The plan to place signs on sidewalks has drawn attention because it uses federal property adjacent to cultural institutions to deliver a political critique of their work.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum testifies during a House Committee on Natural Resources hearing to examine the 2027 budget for the Department of the Interior on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2026.JIM WATSON via Getty Images
President Trump has publicly criticized the Smithsonian before. In August 2025 he posted on Truth Social that "The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL," and more recently he has asked the institution to install an 11-foot statue of George Washington in Flag Hall through 2032 and to replace the existing "Infinity" sculpture by Jose de Rivera with a 30-foot statue of Washington.
HuffPost and other outlets have reported on The Atlantic's story and the underlying Burgum letter. The Department of the Interior did not provide an immediate public comment to HuffPost at the time of reporting.
National Museum of American History Director Dr. Anthea Hartig appears during an Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing titled "Rewriting American History: Examining the Smithsonian's Efforts to Reshape the Past" in July.Andrew Harnik via Getty Images
Why It Matters
The dispute raises questions about the boundaries between political oversight and museum independence, the use of public space for political messaging, and how national cultural institutions present contested parts of American history.
Sources: The Atlantic, HuffPost (reporting on The Atlantic's obtained Burgum letter), White House report referenced in Burgum's letter.
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