The Smithsonian Institution has once again come under the scrutiny of the Trump administration, this time with a focus on the National Museum of American History.
Fox News reported that the White House has raised concerns about “Entertainment Nation,” a permanent display on view since 2022 that sheds light on the entertainment industry’s impact on American pop culture through a selection of theater, music, sports, movie, and television memorabilia from the last 150 years.
The exhibition includes a display on Mickey Mouse, a character that figured in the 1928 cartoon Steamboat Willie. “The new character’s outsized facial features, white gloves, and trickster temperament were vestiges of longstanding traditions of blackface minstrelsy,” a wall text at the museum reads.
Related Articles
Another display at the museum describes the impact of the late pop star Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, who “got us talking about identity” and “cast a light on the longstanding cultural and growing political influence of Mexican American and Latinx communities within the United States.”
There is also a 1923 circus poster with a placard explaining, “Under the big top, circuses expressed the colonial impulse to claim dominion over the world.”
Lindsey Halligan, a lawyer who has consulted closely with the White House on matters such as a prior executive order targeting the Smithsonian, was quoted extensively by Fox News. She said the “Entertainment Nation” display was “part of the problem the Trump Administration aims to fix. Framing American culture as inherently violent, imperialist, or racist does not reflect the greatness of our nation or the millions of Americans who have contributed to its progress.”
A review of the institution with senior officials and the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents is reportedly underway.
“The museum is committed to continuous and rigorous scholarship and research and unbiased presentation of facts and history. As such, and as previously announced, we are assessing content in Smithsonian museums and will make any necessary changes to ensure our content meets our standards,” the Smithsonian said in a statement to Fox News.
Though the Smithsonian receives about two-thirds of its $1 billion annual budget from the federal government, it is not a federal entity. The museum consortium is overseen by a Board of Regents, as stipulated by Congress upon its founding in 1846. The current board includes the Vice President, the Chief Justice of the United States, six members of Congress, and nine citizen regents.
While the Smithsonian has affirmed itself as an “independent entity,” it has faced various challenges since Donald Trump’s reelection. In January, the Smithsonian closed its DEI offices. In March, a newly issued executive order instructed the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents to eliminate “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology” within its museums. In May, National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet resigned after Trump said he fired her for supporting DEI.
