Under Trump, the future of U.S. Latino history preservation is uncertain

President Trump’s proposed 2026 budget, which is currently under congressional review, could halt plans for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino to expand on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The president’s budget would not provide funding for the long-awaited Latino museum, which was signed into law by Trump during his first term. News of the 2026 budget proposal came after he issued a March executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which alleges a “divisive, race-centered ideology” at the core of the Smithsonian Institution.  Instead, the FY26 budget requests $5.8 million to fund and revert back to a Smithsonian Latino Center model, which shares U.S. Latino history and culture collections, programs and educational content throughout other Smithsonian Institutions.