By MEG KINNARD and GARY FIELDS, Associated Press<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Lonnie Bunch is stepping down from the leadership of the Smithsonian Institution following a tumultuous year in which President Donald Trump tried to remake the portrayal of U.S. history by the Smithsonian museums and other cultural entities.<\/p>\n
Bunch said in a news release Tuesday that he was departing the position he had held since 2019 \u201cwith very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude.\u201d The Smithsonian said he would leave the post at the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Bunch\u2019s departure comes two months after a\u00a0White House report<\/a>\u00a0branded the leaders of the\u00a0Smithsonian Institution<\/a>, especially at the\u00a0National Museum of American History<\/a>, as radical activists who cannot be trusted, an indication that Trump could be preparing\u00a0to install his own team<\/a>.<\/p>\n Anthea M. Hartig, the first female director of that museum, faced growing scrutiny from Trump and other Republicans over the summer after the White House Domestic Policy Council\u2019s report saying the museum\u2019s leadership doesn\u2019t tell history \u201cin a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic.\u201d<\/p>\n Three weeks after the report\u2019s release, Trump ordered his administration\u00a0to install signs<\/a>\u00a0in front of the U.S. history museum telling visitors that some of the exhibits are inaccurate. Hartig pushed back, telling lawmakers during congressional hearings that the report \u201cdoes not fairly or accurately characterize the full body of work at the museum.\u201d<\/p>\n There had been speculation that firings were in the offing. Trump doesn\u2019t have the power to fire leaders at the Smithsonian with the swiftness he\u2019s managed at other top cultural institutions in Washington, most notably the Kennedy Center, where a board of his supporters named him chairman.<\/p>\n The Smithsonian operates outside the executive branch and museum directors report to Bunch, who is subject to oversight from a Board of Regents that includes Vice President JD Vance, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and so-called citizen regents.<\/p>\n Roberts, who serves as Smithsonian\u2019s chancellor, said in a release that Bunch had \u201cpursued excellence in the telling of our nation\u2019s story.\u201d<\/p>\n The White House did not immediately return a message seeking comment.<\/p>\n The announcement has left questions about some Smithsonian programming. Bunch is scheduled to speak Sept. 25 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture at an event entitled: \u201cUnderstanding America: 10 Years of Excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n The museum did not immediately respond to a question about how Bunch\u2019s retirement might impact the event.<\/p>\n The Smithsonian has been under examination by the Trump administration since 2025 as it has focused on the images and messages presented to the public as the nation approached its 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n A March 2025 executive order,\u00a0Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,<\/a>\u00a0led to signs being\u00a0changed at federal parks<\/a>, exhibits being altered or in some cases removed, and\u00a0military bases being renamed.<\/a>\u00a0Trump specifically cited the National Museum of African American History and Culture and argued that the Smithsonian as a whole was engaging in a \u201cconcerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n