Spectrum News 1: Future of Smithsonian’s Latino museum in question after Trump admin proposes zero funding in budget
By Cassie Semyon
The future of the planned Smithsonian Museum of the American Latino is in doubt after President Donald Trump provided no money for the project in his proposed federal budget.
It comes as the Trump administration is placing intense scrutiny on the Smithsonian. The administration has ordered a review of current and future exhibits to ensure they align with Trump’s interpretation of American history.
“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,” the president said in the Oval Office earlier this month.
When asked why the president had not included funding for the museum as part of his budget proposal, Spectrum News was told it was in part because the administration did not have confidence the new museum would celebrate the president’s brand of American exceptionalism, remove narratives percieved as partisan and divisive, and restore confidence in cultural institutions as the president has outlined he would like the Smithsonian to do.
The administration also noted that Congress hasn’t finalized a location for the museum and that the price tag, estimated upwards of $500 million, was also part of the decision.
The proposed museum was created by legislation in December 2020 and signed into law by Trump during his first administration. The fledgling museum has hired staff and is currently fundraising while it waits for Congress to approve a final site on the National Mall before construction can begin. The museum will be funded equally by both Congressional appropriations and private donors. As of last month, the museum had raised approximately $70 million in private funding and collected more than 250 objects.
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, say they are working to ensure funding for the museum through the Congressional appropriations process, despite the president’s proposal.
“The president’s proposed budget does not include a single dollar for the National Museum of the American Latino. But the good news is, at least on the Senate’s side the appropriation bills that are being negotiated on a bipartisan basis do have an appropriation for the museum,” Padilla told Spectrum News.
Cruz, who is an ally of the president, said he has spoken to the White House about the matter.
“Listen, I’m confident that we are going to fund it. It is existing law that the Smithsonian Museum is going to create a museum of the American Latino of celebrating Latino culture, who we are,” he said to Spectrum News. “We’re going to get it done.”
A study in the 1990s found Latinos were all but left out of the Smithsonian, mentioned less than 1% of the time in the then-17 museums and galleries that made up the system (there are now 20 locations that make up the Smithsonian Institution). This museum, according to its champions, is a way to rectify that.
“We need to recognize our achievements over the past 500 years and how we’ve contributed to the U.S. history narrative. And a lot of that is missing in textbooks and museums across the United States,” said Jorge Zamanillo, the museum’s director, during a tour last year of the Molina Family Gallery, which offers visitors a preview of what the future Museum of the American Latino may look like in the future.
The Smithsonian Museum of the American Latino did not comment for this story, but a source familiar said that Congressional appropriations are “essential” for the museum to continue its operations. Congress will take up funding bills for the 2026 fiscal year when lawmakers return from August recess.
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