President Trump is giving the Smithsonian days to begin honoring George Washington with statues and a major new exhibition, escalating a months-long fight over how America's national museums tell the country's founding story.
Trump posted on social media late Friday demanding the National Museum of American History remove a decades-old abstract sculpture from its entrance on the National Mall and replace it with a 30-foot statue of the first president. He also called for an 11-foot Washington statue inside the museum's Flag Hall by Constitution Day, September 17, and a five-year exhibition running through February 22, 2032, the 300th anniversary of Washington's birth. Fox News Digital reported that the Smithsonian did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The target of Trump's ire is "Infinity," a rotating stainless steel sculpture by New York artist José de Rivera, commissioned by the federal government and installed outside the museum in 1967. Trump dismissed it bluntly on Truth Social.
As the New York Post reported, Trump wrote that the abstract work "tells visitors nothing about America, inspires no one, and honors none of our Great American Heroes." He drew a direct contrast with Washington:
"Replace a sculpture that says nothing about America with the man who, more than anyone else, says everything about America."
Trump singled out Washington's crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas night in 1776 and the American victory at Trenton as events the museum fails to give proper attention. He called Washington "easily America's Greatest Hero," adding: "Without him, our Country and our Freedoms wouldn't exist."
Beyond the statues, Trump called for a sweeping new permanent program. He wants the Smithsonian to scrap its recently ended Center for Restorative History, an initiative created to spotlight stories excluded from the national historical narrative, and replace it with a "Center for American Heroes." The center, as Trump described it, would showcase Americans who "faced great challenges, overcame them, built great things, defended our Country, made America better, and helped our Nation more fully live up to our Founding Ideals."
The demands are specific and come with tight deadlines. But whether the president can legally compel any of them remains an open question. The Smithsonian Institution operates outside the executive branch. Its Board of Regents includes Vice President JD Vance and Chief Justice John Roberts, along with lawmakers from both parties and citizen members. That governance structure puts it beyond the reach of a standard presidential directive.
Friday's social media posts did not come out of nowhere. Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 aimed at eliminating what the White House called "divisive narratives" and "improper ideology" at the Smithsonian. That order targeted funding for programs the administration deemed politically slanted.
The White House followed up with a formal letter to the Smithsonian secretary outlining a detailed review process. National Review reported that the review initially targets eight museums, including the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the National Portrait Gallery. Museums must submit initial materials within 30 days, all remaining materials within 75 days, and begin implementing content corrections after 120 days.
The White House letter stated the initiative "aims to ensure alignment with the President's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions." A separate White House report published this year criticized the Smithsonian directly, citing what it described as a lack of attention to Washington and other Founding Fathers.
The administration has also taken a more visible, confrontational step. In July, Trump ordered signs placed outside the National Museum of American History warning visitors that some exhibits inside are inaccurate, a move without obvious precedent at a federally affiliated institution. Breitbart noted the legal ambiguity around Trump's authority to compel these changes, given the Smithsonian's independent governance.
The broader context is the country's 250th anniversary. Trump has repeatedly argued that the Smithsonian, the nation's largest museum complex, funded in large part by taxpayers, should place greater emphasis on America's founding principles, national achievements, and patriotic history. The administration views the current curatorial direction as a departure from that mission.
The pressure campaign arrives at a moment of institutional vulnerability. Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch announced last week that he will step down at the end of the year. His departure follows months of escalating clashes with the Trump administration over the institution's direction. The retirement of Bunch leaves the Smithsonian without permanent leadership as the White House review process moves forward.
The Board of Regents has tried to position itself as a stabilizing force. In a statement issued last year, the board said it was committed to keeping the institution nonpartisan and its scholarship free from political or partisan influence. But the same statement acknowledged the Smithsonian "can and must do more" and directed its leadership to ensure museum content is unbiased, language that, at least in part, aligned with the administration's criticism.
That concession did not satisfy the White House. The executive order, the critical report, the warning signs, and now the demand for Washington statues and a patriotic exhibition all suggest the administration views the Regents' statement as insufficient.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham has covered the Smithsonian dispute on her program, featuring historian Dr. Jody Edward Ginn, who analyzed what he described as the exclusion of conservative perspectives from the institution's exhibits. Ginn noted that one new exhibit featured three times more liberal items than conservative ones, a claim that, if accurate, would reinforce the administration's argument that the museum complex has drifted from balanced historical presentation.
The Trump administration has shown a broader willingness to engage directly with the physical spaces of the nation's capital. After vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool drew a sharp response from the president, the administration has signaled that it treats stewardship of Washington's monuments and institutions as a governing priority, not a ceremonial afterthought.
The Associated Press reported that questions persist about whether Trump can actually compel the Smithsonian to act on any of these demands. The institution's charter and its independent board structure were designed to insulate it from direct executive control. Trump's executive order targeted funding, a lever the White House does control, but ordering specific statues installed and exhibitions mounted is a different matter.
The Washington Examiner noted that Trump's request for a 30-foot "Washington Colossus" to replace the abstract "Infinity" at the museum's main entrance reflects his broader push to promote traditional American historical figures and symbols. Whether the Smithsonian complies voluntarily, resists, or negotiates some middle ground will test the boundaries of presidential influence over an institution that receives federal money but answers to its own board.
The administration has not been shy about pressing its position on other D.C. landmarks. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum recently declared the Reflecting Pool renovation complete after a long and expensive saga, a reminder that the executive branch can move aggressively on the capital's public spaces when it chooses to.
For now, the Smithsonian has said nothing publicly about Trump's latest demands. The institution's silence, combined with Bunch's imminent departure and the ongoing White House review, leaves the museum in limbo.
Taxpayers fund the Smithsonian. If the people running it cannot find room for a proper tribute to the man who made the republic possible, it is fair to ask whose version of American history they are telling, and for whom.
