Trump Proposes Smithsonian Tributes to George Washington, ‘America’s Greatest Hero’

The line that stuck out wasn’t even the jab at the Smithsonian. It was the choice of subject: George Washington, in the middle of yet another cultural knife fight. Trump’s proposal for new Smithsonian tributes to Washington feels less like a museum memo and more like a diagnostic test. Do we still have the ability to honor the country’s founding without a seminar on why we shouldn’t?

A lot of Americans have walked through Smithsonian exhibits lately and come out with the same sour taste: plenty of scolding, not much awe. You can tell a fuller history without turning every room into a courtroom. Washington wasn’t a porcelain saint, but he also isn’t a villain you “context” into irrelevance. A national museum should feel like a national museum. If the Smithsonian can’t manage that basic tone, it’s fair for a president to push it there.

And let’s be honest about why this proposal is landing. The Smithsonian has become a symbol of a broader habit in our institutions: sneering at the story they’re paid to present. That’s not “honesty.” It’s a point of view, and it’s one a lot of working people didn’t vote for. Stop treating patriotism like a suspect emotion. You can teach hard truths and still believe the country is worth admiring.

Will new tributes fix everything? No. But it’s the right fight, and it’s a simple ask. Put Washington where every schoolkid can see him, plainly and proudly, as the leader who helped create the American experiment. Honor the founder, quit the lectures. If the Smithsonian wants to be trusted again, it can start by remembering who it’s supposed to serve.