Bunch preparing Smithsonian rebuttal to White House report
Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III said Tuesday he will retire and leave by year’s end, concluding nearly eight years leading the world’s largest museum and research complex amid tension with the Trump administration over how the institution portrays American history.
Bunch, a 73-year-old native of Belleville, N.J., told The Wall Street Journal he made the decision in late August while vacationing with his family — before the Interior Department sent a letter to the Smithsonian’s governing board of regents threatening to cut off federal agencies’ cooperation in lending artifacts and providing grants. He said he hasn’t communicated with Trump or White House officials recently, but he said they had “nothing” to do with his decision to retire.
The exit comes amid an 18-month campaign by the Trump administration to pressure the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center over how American history is presented, with the administration urging the institutions to emphasize the country’s positive contributions over its social ills. Bunch said he had served nearly eight years when he initially set out to serve five, and described it as time to step aside, while defending the Smithsonian’s scholarly integrity and pledging to continue protecting “the importance of doing nuanced, complicated history.” According to The Wall Street Journal, the partisan politics of the moment have taken a toll on him.
The Smithsonian, often called “the Nation’s Attic,” operates 21 museums, 20 libraries, the National Zoo and multiple scientific research centers around the world. The regents are expected to name an acting chief to oversee the complex during the transition.
The pressure on Bunch intensified over the past year and a half. On July 4, the Trump administration issued a 162-page report denouncing the Smithsonian’s alleged “shift from history to activism.” Afterward, the administration enlisted the National Park Service to post temporary signs outside a few museums on the National Mall warning the public of “inaccurate information presented” within. On Aug. 28, the Interior Department joined the fray, sending the regents a letter threatening to cut off federal cooperation in artifact lending and grants unless changes were made to the institution’s leadership and exhibits.
Bunch said he is “really close” to submitting the Smithsonian’s official rebuttal to Trump’s March 2025 executive order report on the institution. He said the response “will demonstrate that much of what was in the White House report was a mischaracterization of the Smithsonian and of the National Museum of American History.”
Chief Justice John Roberts, who serves as chancellor of the Smithsonian, said in a statement that Bunch “has pursued excellence in the telling of our nation’s story.” Roberts added that the regents “have benefited greatly from his wisdom, vision, and leadership. We look forward to working with him in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition for his successor.”
When Bunch ascended to his post in 2019, he was celebrated as the first African American and first historian to hold the Secretary role — his 13 predecessors all came from scientific, business or legal fields. He was best known as the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which he built from the ground up. He amassed more than 40,000 objects for it, including the Greensboro Lunch Counter — where four Black teenagers staged a 1960 sit-in in North Carolina — and he is credited with gathering private donations to cover half the museum’s $540 million cost, with Congress fielding the rest. The museum opened in 2016 and has received more than 13 million visitors.
The National Museum of American History has become a particular target of the Trump administration’s criticism. Its director, Anthea Hartig, was called to testify before the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency over allegations of “wokeness” cited by Republican lawmakers. Rep. Mary Miller, an Illinois Republican, said lawmakers took Hartig to task for displaying artifacts such as a crotch harness in a 2019 exhibit, “Illegal to Be You: Gay History Beyond Stonewall.” Miller said, “You chose to display the fetish attire of a very small subset of Americans with weird sexual proclivities, and you welcomed children to the exhibit.” Hartig defended the exhibit and said children under 18 had to be accompanied by an adult.
Bunch said he spoke with Hartig several times before she testified about the “red lines you have to defend,” including scholarly research. He encouraged her to follow his example in seeking bipartisan support for the Smithsonian. “Would I love for this not to be a difficult time? Of course, but you play the cards dealt to you,” he said. “You’ve got to make sure that the voices that will champion the Smithsonian are heard, and I think we’ve done all that very well.”
On Aug. 31, the regents completed one of Bunch’s remaining priorities by announcing that the National Museum of the American Latino will permanently move into the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building rather than be built on a National Park Service-owned site. Bunch said he initially disliked the 19th-century, castle-like building on the National Mall but was convinced it was a good home for the $1 billion museum. Congress authorized the museum in 2020.
Bunch, who first joined the Smithsonian at the National Air and Space Museum in 1978 and later served at the National Museum of American History through 2000, is also continuing to push for fundraising for the institution’s $2.5 billion capital campaign, which has already crossed its goal. He said he might write and teach in retirement.
“Being a kid from Jersey, I’m really good at fighting,” he said, “but I’m also good at thinking strategically.”