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

As a part of its plan to wreck the democratic principles embedded in American culture, the Trump administration issued an executive order last week to impose a fascist-like conformity on the Smithsonian Institution.

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.