by WorldTribune Staff, September 13, 2026 Non-AI Real World News
A July 2026 White House report titled “Saving America’s Story” accuses the Smithsonian Institution of “ideological capture” which was reflected in its failure to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The report alleges the National Museum of American History prioritizes activist narratives over founding history:
President Donald Trump called on the Smithsonian to replace the ‘strange modernist’ sculpture that ‘inspires no one’ with 30-foot-tall ‘Washington Colossus.’
“The Founders are minimized, if not entirely excluded; traditional patriotic narratives are treated with suspicion, if not outright contempt; and the basic symbols and stories that once helped unify Americans are presented not as reasons for gratitude and inspiration, but as objects to be inherently questioned, dismantled, ‘problematized,’ and reinterpreted to achieve ideological ends.”
George Washington is referred to as the “father of our country” because he shaped its military, political, and democratic foundations.
President Donald Trump said it’s about time the Smithsonian in D.C. got over itself and paid the city’s namesake his due.
Trump is calling on the Smithsonian to install a 30-foot statue of Washington outside the Museum of American History and host a five-year exhibition honoring his legacy.
Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social:
I am calling on the Smithsonian Institution to honor the Life and Legacy of George Washington, America’s Greatest Hero, with a five-year exhibition at the National Museum of American History, beginning now, and continuing through, February 22, 2032, the 300th anniversary of Washington’s birth.
I am also calling on the Smithsonian to erect a 30-foot “Colossus statue” of the Father of Our Country outside the Museum, to replace the so-called “Infinity” sculpture that stands there today. That strange modernist sculpture tells visitors nothing about America, inspires no one, and honors none of our Great American Heroes.
George Washington does. He is easily America’s Greatest Hero. Without him, our Country and our Freedoms wouldn’t exist.
And yet, during our Nation’s 250th Anniversary Year, the Museum has failed to give George Washington and our other Founding Fathers the celebration they deserve. Washington’s Heroic Crossing of the Delaware on December 25, 1776—One of the greatest moments and turning points of the Revolution—is not even mentioned in the Museum. His Victory at Trenton, and the stories of the Americans who fought and died for our Independence, deserve far more attention.
Under recently ended leadership, the Smithsonian created a “Center for Restorative History,” and commissioned a “Decolonization Plan,” to focus attention overwhelmingly on those who have been oppressed, but there is almost no attention paid to those who triumphed over great oppression, and against great odds.
One current exhibit describes the period of 1492 to 1776, including Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the New World, and the European settlement of America, as the “Great Unsettling” of the Continent.
That tells you all you need to know about how twisted the thinking is today at the Smithsonian.
Instead of a Center for Restorative History, America’s National History Museum should have a Center for American Heroes.
Tell the stories of 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.
That is a History worth teaching, because it is America’s story.
Instead of focusing on ideological activism, the leaders of America’s taxpayer-funded, National History Museum should be focused on telling America’s story—fairly, accurately, and coherently—and there is no better person to start with than George Washington.
