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President Donald Trump and his administration are moving to exert control over exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution. In a letter sent on August 12, three White House officials told the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, his name's Lonnie G. Bunch the third,

that the administration would conduct a review at certain Smithsonian museums. The goal to, quote,

celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence

in our shared cultural institutions. President Trump described the reasons

like this. Well, we want the museums to treat our country fairly. We want the museums to talk about

the history of our country in a fair manner, not in a woke manner or in a racist manner,

which is what many of them, not all of them, but many of them are doing. Our museums have an obligation

to represent what happened in our country over the years, good and bad, but what happened

over the years in an accurate way. As President Donald Trump speaking from the Oval Office last

Thursday, for today's installment of our politics series, if you can keep It, where we take a look at the health of our democracy,

we'll talk about how the administration is injecting itself into the affairs

and the exhibits of the Smithsonian Institution.

And what that means for our understanding of our shared history now and in the future.

I'm Todd's Willick, in for Jen White,

and you're listening to the

1A podcast. Back with more in just a moment.

Support for NPR, and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

RWJF is a national philanthropy,

working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right.

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