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News Analysis
Lonnie G. Bunch III, who has led the institution since 2019, parried the White House until deciding it was time to go.
Sept. 13, 2026, 5:03 a.m. ET
Throughout his second term, President Trump has criticized the Smithsonian Institution for what he says is an insufficient celebration of American history. A presidential aide derided the Smithsonian’s secretary, Lonnie G. Bunch III, as a “rabid partisan,” a liar and a failure.
So when Mr. Bunch announced on Tuesday that he would be resigning, it was another victory for the Trump administration, which had previously forced the resignation of the director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and the alteration of wall text that referred to Mr. Trump’s impeachments.
But even a presidential pressure campaign has its limits.
The administration’s demands for sweeping changes within the walls of the Smithsonian’s various museums have largely gone unrealized. Mr. Bunch demonstrated that it was possible to navigate the attacks by Mr. Trump without compromising the Smithsonian’s autonomy.
In August 2025, the White House gave a 120-day ultimatum for the Smithsonian to replace “divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate and constructive descriptions.” More than a year later, little has been changed.
In July, Mr. Trump ordered warning signs installed outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to alert the public that the museum does not, in his view, accurately reflect American history. Those signs have not been installed.
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