Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch to Retire at Year's End After Year of Clashes With Trump White House

Lonnie Bunch, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution since 2019 and the first Black person to hold the job, will retire at the end of 2026. He announced the decision earlier this month, calling it a choice made with "very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude," according to the Guardian and the Daily Wire.

The announcement caps more than a year of open conflict between the Smithsonian and the Trump administration over how the institution's museums present American history, particularly slavery and race.

How we got here

In March 2025, Trump signed an executive order titled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," according to the Daily Wire. The order accused the Smithsonian of promoting narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently oppressive, and it directed Vice President JD Vance, through his seat on the Smithsonian's Board of Regents, to push that ideology out.

The White House Domestic Policy Council followed in July with a report called "Saving America's Story," accusing leadership at the National Museum of American History of institutional capture by what the report called "a radical, activist ideology," per the Daily Wire and the Independent. Trump then ordered signs posted outside the museum flagging what his administration described as inaccurate exhibits.

In late August, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and White House Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley sent a letter to the Smithsonian's governing board threatening to cut federal agency support, including artifact loans and discretionary grants, according to the Independent. The letter alleged the institution may have violated anti-discrimination law through its diversity practices. No investigation or charges tied to that allegation have been announced in the available reporting.

Bunch pushed back at the time, calling the July report "not a fair characterization of the work and totality of the National Museum of American History" in an internal staff email, while acknowledging "room for improvement," the Daily Wire reported.

The strongest version of the administration's argument

The White House's case, laid out in its own report and executive order, is that Smithsonian exhibits lean heavily on slavery, oppression and social-justice framing while giving comparatively little attention to American achievement and unity. Trump put it bluntly on Truth Social, saying the Smithsonian discusses "how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was" while offering "nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future," per the Guardian. Fox News separately reported that former Democratic staffers and DEI leaders have shaped Smithsonian leadership in recent years, feeding the administration's argument that ideology, not scholarship, drives curatorial choices.

Bunch's answer, delivered Friday at the National Museum of African American History and Culture during its 10th-anniversary event, was direct. He got a standing ovation from a packed room, according to the Guardian and Blink News. "You cannot understand the greatness of a country without understanding the totality of a country," he said. "You cannot understand all without illuminating the dark corners. Curating means let's shine the light. Let's tell the truth." He called slavery "foundational" to understanding the country and said he wished he had the strength of his enslaved ancestors.

Did the pressure cause the retirement?

The Independent's headline states flatly that "Trump attacks drive first Black head of the Smithsonian Institution into retirement." But Bunch himself, in an interview with the New York Times cited by the Daily Wire, rejected that framing. "Now's the time," he said, while acknowledging the fight had been stressful. "I'd like to wake up in the morning and not look at my cellphone." He did not say the administration forced him out. The Independent's causal framing in its headline goes further than Bunch's on-record account supports.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who serves as the Smithsonian's chancellor and sits on its Board of Regents, praised Bunch's tenure without commenting on the cause of his exit, saying he "pursued excellence in the telling of our nation's story," according to Fox News and the Daily Wire.

What happens next

The Smithsonian is structurally independent of the executive branch. Its secretary is chosen by the Board of Regents, which includes Vance, members of Congress, citizen regents, and Roberts. Trump cannot unilaterally remove or install a secretary, the Independent and Daily Wire both note.

That leaves an open question as 2026 closes out: who the Board of Regents selects to replace Bunch, and whether Vance's seat on that board gives the administration meaningful sway over the pick. No successor has been named in the available reporting.