One-third of US museums have lost government grants or contracts since Donald Trump took office, according to a new survey.
The findings, released by the American Alliance of Museums on Tuesday and based on responses from more than 500 museum directors across the US, shed new light on the challenges cultural institutions are facing under the Trump administration.
Among the museums affected by cancelled government contracts or unreimbursed expenditures, the survey found that the median loss was $30,000. The most common cancelled grants were from the Institute of Museum of Library Services, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment of the Arts. Two-thirds of the respondent museums reported that the lost funding has not been replaced by foundations, sponsors or donors.
“We’re seeing attendance and financial performance trending in the wrong direction for the first time since the pandemic, with recovery not just stalling but reversing. This should be a wake-up call for policymakers and philanthropists alike,” Marilyn Jackson, president and CEO of the American Alliance of Museums said in a statement about the release of the report.
The report found that about a quarter of the museums that have lost federal funding have been forced to cancel or reduce programming for students, rural communities, individuals with disabilities, and the elderly while 28% have had to cancel programming for the general public.
Museum directors said they are anticipating continued disruption into 2026, citing shifts in philanthropy, financial instability, changes to travel and tourism, inflation, and government funding losses. A third of respondents identified ideological and political polarization as likely disruptions to their business strategy in the new year.
Since taking office for the second time, the Trump administration has not shied away from targeting cultural institutions that they believe to be in opposition of the US president’s agenda.
Trump took control of the Kennedy Center in February, firing board chair David Rubenstein and appointing himself to preside over the storied theater. Ticket sales for the Kennedy Center’s three largest performance spaces have since fallen to their lowest levels in years following that shake-up.
after newsletter promotion
The following month, in March, Trump signed an executive order which ordered the Smithsonian to remove content deemed “improper, divisive, or anti-American”, with an emphasis on the National Museum of African American and Culture. Then in August, the administration sent a letter to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, signaling their intent to conduct a wide review of all its exhibits, materials and operations.
In response, the Smithsonian’s secretary, Lonnie G Bunch III, reportedly told staffers at the museum that the institution had “agreed to set up a team to review turning over materials to the White House, as requested” but would “do so as an autonomous institution”, per a September report in the New York Times.
“Our own review of content to ensure our programming is nonpartisan and factual is ongoing, and it is consistent with our authority over our programming and content,” Bunch reportedly wrote in his letter to the staff.
A document compiled by the White House, also in August, detailed examples at seven museums that had “overly negative portrayals of US history”. Those museums included the National Museum of American History, the upcoming National Museum of the American Latino, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African Art, the National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Museum of Asian Art.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
