It's not about whitewashing, it's all about full context, so while slavery is obviously a horrible aspect of our nation's history, you can't really talk about slavery honestly unless you also talk about hope and progress.

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 the museums should be geared toward pride in America's growth.

Criticism comes as White House officials have accused Smithsonian of being ‘woke’ and featuring an ‘overemphasis on slavery

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."

The White House published a list of Smithsonian exhibits, programming and artwork it considered objectionable on Thursday, one week after announcing that eight of the institution’s museums must submit their current wall text and future exhibition plans for a comprehensive review.