Lonnie Bunch Defends Smithsonian Independence Amid Trump Pressure
Lonnie Bunch, the first Black secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, is facing mounting pressure from the Trump administration. During a lunch meeting on August 28, 2025, Trump diverted attention from Smithsonian matters to discuss chandeliers and Dulles International Airport. In March, he issued an executive order aimed at "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History" and attempted to fire National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet, who resigned shortly after. The White House’s request for documents from the Smithsonian in August and threats to withhold funding in December raised further concerns, especially with four Smithsonian Board of Regents members set to reach term limits by 2026.
Key facts
- Lonnie Bunch is the first Black secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
- Trump summoned Bunch for lunch on August 28, 2025, but focused on chandeliers and Dulles airport instead of Smithsonian content.
- Trump issued an executive order in March 2025 demanding 'Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.'
- Trump attempted to fire National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet in May 2025; she resigned days later.
- The White House requested documents from the Smithsonian in August 2025 and threatened to withhold funding in December 2025.
- Bunch raised $453 million as NMAAHC director and $2.5 billion as Smithsonian secretary.
- Bunch's philosophy was shaped by a 1989 encounter with Princy Jenkins, who urged him to help people remember 'what they need to remember.'
- Four Smithsonian Board of Regents members reach term limits by end of 2026, raising concerns about Trump appointing loyalists.
Entities
Artists
- Lonnie Bunch
- Kim Sajet
- Princy Jenkins
- John Lewis
- Barack Obama
- George W. Bush
- Ben Carson
- Tim Scott
- Alveda King
- Mike Lee
- Carlos Giménez
- John Roberts
- John Cornyn
- Duke Ellington
- Louis Armstrong
- Booker T. Washington
- Frederick Douglass
- Harriet Tubman
- Sojourner Truth
- W. E. B. Du Bois
- Emmett Till
- Ruth Bonner
Institutions
- Smithsonian Institution
- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- National Portrait Gallery
- National Museum of American History
- National Air and Space Museum
- National Museum of the American Latino
- Women's History Museum
- Chicago History Museum
- White House
- Board of Regents
- House of Representatives
- Senate
- Heritage Foundation
- Organization of American Historians
- UCLA
- Chicago Council on Global Affairs
- The Washington Post
- The New York Times
- The Atlantic
Locations
- Washington, D.C.
- United States
- Belleville, New Jersey
- Chicago, Illinois
- Houston, Texas
- Dulles International Airport
- South Carolina
- Louisiana
- Alabama
- North Carolina
- Sampit River
- Netherlands
- Hiroshima