Lonnie Bunch III announced his resignation as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution on Tuesday, marking the end of nearly four decades there amid pressure from the Trump administration to present a less critical version of American history.

“I leave with pride and sadness, gratitude and joy, and with enormous confidence in the people who will carry this remarkable institution forward,” Bunch said in a statement.

Bunch will depart at the end of the calendar year. The Smithsonian, which receives federal funding, has been under intense scrutiny from the White House since President Donald Trump’s return to office last year.

In March 2025, Trump signed an executive order directing Vice President JD Vance to eliminate “improper, divisive, or anti-American” ideology from programs at the Smithsonian. White House officials began to review Smithsonian museums three months later to align with Trump’s executive order, The Wall Street Journal reported.

In July of this year, the White House criticized the Smithsonian in a report, accusing it of anti-white bias and “extreme political activism.”

Bunch told the Journal that his decision to depart had “nothing” to do with the Trump administration, and that he decided in late August to step down.

“It was really just saying, now’s the time,” he told The New York Times, though he acknowledged that the political pressure from the White House has been “stressful.”

Bunch has worked at the Smithsonian for nearly 38 years. He was the first Black person and first historian to serve as secretary of the institution when he assumed the role in 2019.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, the chancellor of the Smithsonian, praised Bunch for his “excellence in the telling of our nation’s story.”

“The Regents, and the Smithsonian, have benefited greatly from his wisdom, vision and leadership,” Roberts said.

The post Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch resigns amid intense scrutiny from the White House appeared first on MS NOW.

Author: Source Author

From MS Now.