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Smithsonian Chief Lonnie G. Bunch Retires As President Trump Seeks to Reshape Institution

By Amy Curtis | September 08, 2026 12:50 PM
Smithsonian Chief Lonnie G. Bunch Retires As President Trump Seeks to Reshape Institution
AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File

The Smithsonian has rightly been in the eye of the Trump administration, which has been trying to clean up the institution after the release of a 162-page report titled "Saving America's Story: How Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage."

In July, Smithsonian officials, including Director Dr. Anthea Hartig, were grilled on Capitol Hill over the museum's "mass action toolkit," which classified numerous behaviors as "white supremacy."

One of those listed "white supremacist" behaviors was being polite, and Rep. Brandon Gill humiliated Hartig over it. The institution also claimed that America was built on "stolen land."

And it falsely said that Benjamin Franklin — a known abolitionist — may have conducted electroshock experiments on slaves.

Now President Lonnie G. Bunch III has announced he's retiring. He said the ongoing scrutiny from the White House played no role in his decision.

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Here's more:

Bunch, the 73-year-old historian who founded the National Museum of African American History and Culture and then became the Smithsonian’s first Black leader, publicly announced Tuesday that he is stepping down after more than seven years in the institution’s top job.

Bunch plans to depart by the end of the year, the Smithsonian said in a statement.

Bunch’s resignation comes at one of the most politically fraught moments in the Smithsonian’s 180-year history. Since March 2025, Trump has sought to purge what he calls “improper ideology” from its museums, while his administration has threatened the institution’s federal funding, tried to fire a museum director and challenged its authority over personnel and exhibitions.

On September 3, the Trump administration warned the Smithsonian it could pull federal funding over potential violations of federal antidiscrimination laws. The institution gets about $1 billion in annual federal funding.

In addition to losing that funding, other government agencies could stop assisting the Smithsonian with procurement, the loaning of artifacts, and other discretionary grants.

Four seats on the Smithsonian's Board of Regents are expected to be open by next month.

Source: https://townhall.com/news/amy-curtis/2026/09/08/smithsonian-chief-lonnie-g-bunch-retires-as-president-trump-seeks-to-reshape-institution-n2682638