Because the Smithsonian can receive private funding, it is not entirely in trouble-but the long-term effects remain unclear.

The president’s executive order demanding change at the institution presents a perilous test for Lonnie G. Bunch III, its secretary, whom the White House calls a partisan Democrat.

The order is vague but suggests Trump is seeking to purge elements of what conservatives view as a revisionist history of the US that places systemic racism at the heart of its narrative.