# How the Smithsonian became the latest front in Trump’s culture war

https://mins.news/en/item/76084

- Ars Technica, 2026-09-27 11:00 UTC
- Culture
- Original: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/how-the-smithsonian-became-the-latest-front-in-trumps-culture-war/

> A Smithsonian National Museum of American History exhibit linked Benjamin Franklin’s scientific achievements to slavery and speculated that enslaved people may have helped with his electrical experiments. A 162-page White House report singled out the exhibit, accusing the museum of “ideological capture” and of shifting from historical education and scholarship toward extreme political activism.