Claims that a White House official in charge of U.S. President Donald Trump's mandate to review exhibits within the Smithsonian Institution said, "You can't really talk about slavery honestly unless you also talk about hope and progress," circulated online in August 2025.

Special Assistant to the President Lindsey Halligan said the Smithsonian museums had become "laboratories for political experiments."

President Trump’s adviser leading a review of Smithsonian museums’ content defended the move as shifting the focus to progress, rather than dwelling on past mistakes, and argued that

Is it whitewashing? It's not a museum's job to promote hope, thoughts and prayers. They exhibit the past. Trying to turn them into jingoistic happy meals is not the object. But Trump and his white supremacist base must re-write history so they don't feel bad.

An adviser to President Donald Trump said that while slavery was "horrible," no serious discussion of it is complete without the inclusion of "hope and progress."

Trump's recent crackdown on Smithsonian Museums downplayed slavery and is set to follow his approach with Ivy League institutions.

Lindsey Halligan, Special Assistant to the President, on Thursday said the Smithsonian museums over-emphasize slavery when they should focus on far the country has come. The Morning Joe panel discusses the Trump WH's continued review of the Smithsonian.