Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch is leaving amid tensions with Trump

Lonnie G. Bunch III will step down from his position as head of the sprawling Smithsonian Institution by the end of the year, he said Tuesday. He will depart at a vulnerable time for the institution, which includes dozens of museums along with libraries, research centers and the National Zoo. While the Smithsonian has traditionally operated independently of the party in power, the Trump administration has repeatedly criticized how the institution portrays America’s past. Last week, the Interior Department threatened to cut off support, alleging that Smithsonian facilities present a “radical ideology” that weakens “shared American identity.” Bunch, who has worked at the Smithsonian for 38 years, said in a statement that his retirement came “with very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude.” “I have spent nearly half of my life working at and being part of the Smithsonian family, and what a privilege it has been,” said Bunch, who became secretary in 2019. “There is no place like the Smithsonian — it has been one of the great loves of my life, and I am extraordinarily proud of what we have accomplished together.” A person familiar with the situation told NBC News there was no pressure from the Regents — the board that leads the museums — for Bunch to resign. Bunch, the first Black person and first historian to lead the institution, has said he would have retired a year ago but felt he had to stay to defend the institution from the White House attacks, the person said. He told friends after seeing last week’s letter from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum that he believed now was the time to step down and assist in the transition to new leadership, the person said. Chief Justice John Roberts, who serves as chancellor of the Smithsonian, praised Bunch in a statement. “From his days as a young curator at the National Air and Space and American History Museums through his tenure as the founding director of the African American History and Culture Museum and culminating in his distinguished service for the past seven years in the Smithsonian’s top job, Secretary Bunch has pursued excellence in the telling of our nation’s story,” Roberts said. “The Regents, and the Smithsonian, have benefited greatly from his wisdom, vision and leadership. We look forward to working with him in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition for his successor.” The person familiar said the Regents are forming a search committee and considering inside candidates to lead the Smithsonian during the transition, and Bunch told them he would stay on for three or four months to ease the changeover. President Donald Trump took aim at the Smithsonian shortly after beginning his second term, issuing an executive order in March 2025 that directed Vice President JD Vance to eliminate “improper, divisive, or anti-American” ideology from the museum’s programs. “Once widely respected as a symbol of American excellence and a global icon of cultural achievement, the Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology,” the order said. “This shift has promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive,” it alleged. Because of his position as vice president, Vance is a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, whose other members include Roberts, members of Congress and members of the public. In August last year, Trump wrote on social media that he’d also asked “my attorneys” to conduct a review of Smithsonian museums, because they’re focused too much on “how bad Slavery was.” “The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future,” he wrote in the Truth Social post. Vance criticized Bunch’s leadership at a Regents meeting several months ago, two people who attended the meeting told NBC. The White House continued attacking the institution on Independence Day. As the country was celebrating its 250th anniversary, the White House Domestic Policy Council issued a report blasting Smithsonian leaders as radical activists who cannot be trusted. “The Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of American History in particular, under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic,” the report said. In an unrelated interview that aired the next day on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Bunch said “the notion of being a more perfect union, not the perfect union, is really what motivates me.” “America’s greatest strength, it’s not running away from its history, but it’s understanding how that history shaped us and continues to shape us,” he said. Megan Brand contributed reporting.