How the Smithsonian Became the Latest Front in Trump’s Culture War by Alec MacGillis September 24, 2026, 5:04 am

How the Smithsonian Became the Latest Front in Trump’s Culture War by Alec MacGillis September 24, 2026, 5:04 am https://www.propublica.org/article/how-smithsonian-museum-american-history-became-target-trump-culture-war Reporting Highlights Too “Woke”? Trump tried to fire one Smithsonian official and, after finding “ideological capture,” plans to install anti-woke warning signs outside the history museum. Is This History? One exhibit speculated that Ben Franklin may have shocked enslaved people in electric experiments. Another displayed a “crotch harness” used for sadomasochistic sex. A Longstanding Debate: As early as 1999, one critic argued that the history museum lacked focus, examining oppression rather than the central figures and episodes of U.S. history.