The president’s executive order demanding change at the institution presents a perilous test for Lonnie G. Bunch III, its secretary, whom the White House calls a partisan Democrat.

Because the Smithsonian can receive private funding, it is not entirely in trouble-but the long-term effects remain unclear.

US President Donald Trump accuses the Smithsonian Institution of propagating "divisive, race-based ideology" and issued an executive order demanding an end to federal funding for exhibitions and programs based on racial themes that "divide Americans.

Kevin Young, who has led the National Museum of African American History and Culture since 2021, went on leave before the president criticized the institution in an executive order.

Kevin Young, an acclaimed poet who was named director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2021, is on personal leave for an “undetermined period,” according to an email obtained by The Post.