Fears Australian pharmaceutical industry could collapse as US President Donald Trump threatens 200 per cent tariffs
Trump announced on Tuesday, local time, he intends on using the tariffs to bring manufacturing back to the US.
The president said he planned to impose the tariffs 'very soon', indicating a grace period of between a year and 18 months.
Trump officials went on to explain formal details of the plan would be available at the end of the month.
Pharmaceutical products are the third-biggest category in our trade with America, behind beef and gold.
Last year, Australia exported about $2.2 billion of pharmaceutical good to the US.
'(The US is our) largest market, so they are going to really struggle,' Twomey said.
'You cannot have domestic manufacturing in Australia if you are only relying on 27 million people (as a market). It doesn't work.
'The only way domestic manufacturing works in Australia with our high energy and our high wages, and that's just a fact, is if we rely on exports, and if the biggest market of our export, the United States, slaps on the tariffs then it just starts to crumble and fall apart.
'It means the next time we have a global pandemic, or the next time supply chains start to fracture, other countries will do quite rightly do what they should, they will say 'sorry, you can't export to Australia', we need that for our domestic and our country goes without.
'It is not a price at pharmacy issue; it is more of a sovereign manufacturing issue that we need to protect.'
US drug companies angry at the PBS
Sunrise's Nat Barr asked Twomey why US drug companies are mad.
Twomey said the tariffs were a result of US drug companies and their intense dislike for our PBS.
'The first thing you need to realise at home, the price you are charged by your pharmacy is actually going down, not up,' Twomey said.
'(The) government slashed the maximum price of medicines from $42 down to $31. It is being slashed again down to $25 on January 1, so you don't need to worry.
'The worry is how much it is going to cost Canberra to import the medications they then sell to you.
'The real worry there is that if President Trump forces the companies in America to charge less, that drug company is still going to want to make their global profit.
'So, they are going to push the price to charge our taxpayer up.
'The real enemy for the Americans is not the Australian PBS system, the real enemy for them is their pharmacy benefit managers over there. They are trillion-dollar middlemen, they are clipping the ticket on the way through.
'If Mr Trump is angry, I get it, but he shouldn't be angry about Australia's world class PBS, he needs to be angry at the trillion-dollar corporate rip-offs in America, that are charging his citizens more money.
'That's where he needs to direct his anger.'
Prices won't change for Australians
Barr asked if prices for pharmaceuticals would change in Australia.
'Firstly, the PBS enjoys bipartisan support,' Twomey began.
'This is not a football to be kicked around in Canberra. Specifically, to answer your question, only 10 per cent of medicines we have in Australia are manufactured locally.
'Now, if we are importing 90 per cent of our medication, we can't afford to lose that domestic manufacturing capability.
'And if those drug companies, like CSL, in Melbourne, are slapped with a 200 per cent tariffs on exports to the United States, that's going to make their companies unviable here in Australia, if they become solely reliant on the domestic market.
'The big risk for that is they manufacture our vaccines. '
Security risks
Twomey said Australia wouldn't have been able to get through the pandemic if it didn't have onshore manufacturing of pharmaceuticals.
'We would not have been able to get through the global pandemic if we did not have domestic manufacturing, and that really is a national security issue,' he said.
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Sydney Morning Herald
29 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The quiet partnership behind a $1 billion superannuation collapse
As the sun set on 2018, two little-known fund managers were toasting the property deal of a lifetime – the bargain-basement purchase of a sprawling resort overlooking the Coral Sea in Port Douglas. The men, Falcon Capital's David Anderson and Paul Chiodo of Keystone Asset Management, had big dreams of turning the tired three-star hotel into a six-star luxury resort the likes of which had never been seen on Australian shores. Two years later, Chiodo and Anderson pulled off a coup by signing major hotel chain Accor to bring the first-ever ultra-luxury Fairmont resort to Australia and recruiting celebrity gardener Jamie Durie to help design the incredible complex. It would mark the start of a six-year rollercoaster business relationship between Anderson and Chiodo that ended in more public ignominy than either could have imagined. They are now under investigation by the corporate watchdog for criminal and civil breaches of their responsibilities as fund managers, including fraud, according to thousands of pages of documents filed in the Federal Court. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) compiled the dossier to convince a judge to freeze the assets of both men and ban them from leaving the country. The regulator has yet to launch substantive court proceedings against any of the players, and may not, but to win the orders, which are regarded as draconian, it had to show it would have a good case. Chiodo and Anderson did not appear at the hearings to oppose ASIC's applications but both deny the allegations, and neither has been charged as a result of ASIC's long-running investigation. Chiodo and Falcon (Anderson's company) both separately sought to stop liquidators taking control of their business, claiming they had been unfairly targeted. Anderson did consent to receivers being appointed over his personal assets, including his home, in April. What the public has not been aware of before is that Chiodo and Anderson have long been business partners and worked together to sow the seeds for what would become a $1 billion superannuation disaster for 12000 people across the country. Anderson's First Guardian Master Fund and Falcon Capital businesses have collapsed, likely wiping out the entirety of the $446 million in retirement savings invested in the fund. Chiodo's similarly sized Shield Master Fund and Keystone business have also collapsed, putting at risk $480 million in superannuation of their 6000 clients. ASIC suspects much of the super savings in the two funds had been squandered on pet projects, luxury cars and what the regulator says are unusual payments to the men's private companies. Both men have denied these allegations, saying ASIC has misunderstood their businesses and that its suspicions of mismanagement are unfounded and unfair. This masthead is not suggesting those allegations are true, just that they have been made as part of ASIC's long-running and ongoing investigation into the men. Liquidators are now picking through the wreckage of each group and have found many of the investments made by Anderson and Chiodo 'have no value', and returns for investors, particularly in the First Guardian business, are expected to be as low as 20 cents in the dollar or less. Now an investigation by this masthead has found deep ties between the men. Drawing from 7000 documents filed by the regulator in its cases against the men and information provided by more than a dozen sources working within associated businesses or familiar with the ASIC investigation, this masthead can reveal the two had for seven years been business partners and co-investors, including in six different property projects and investment group CF Capital. Anderson also invested one-fifth of First Guardian's funds – or $95 million – into Chiodo's property business and helped him restructure when it got into financial trouble in 2021. It can also be revealed that Anderson and Chiodo used the same investment scheme marketers and financial planners to promote their now failed funds as part of a plan to allow Anderson to recoup that $95 million investment in Chiodo's business. Chiodo confirmed to this masthead that he and Anderson had been joint venture partners in a range of projects over several years. But he insisted that - other than the $95 million investment - there were no existing ties between their businesses or the use of the same group of investment promoters, including financial planning group Venture Egg boss Ferras Merhi. He also said that he and Anderson had not been on good terms since around 2021. 'It's not linked, they [the funds] are not linked, it was not a case of 'hey Ferras can you help us out with our problem?'. There were separate agreements,' Chiodo said. The business partnership between Chiodo and Anderson brought together two different skill sets. Blue blood Anderson, 43, moved in the worlds of investment banking and high finance. At the age of 20 he told the Herald Sun that, while watching the 2000 tech stocks crash on the large electronic sharemarket boards in the foyer of the ASX building, he had predicted the rout: 'At least this crash is going to knock some sense into people.' After joining Falcon, by 2018 Anderson – a fine dining and craft beer fanatic – had amassed a large portfolio of farming land and wanted more deals, focusing his sights on property in Port Douglas. Chiodo, a man with equally large aspirations, was there to help. From a blue-collar background, Chiodo had been working in property development for years, initially in mid-sized residential projects in Melbourne and a high-end set of apartments in Port Douglas. He was also looking for new deals, and when the large resort property in the tropical idyll came on the market in late 2018, the pair agreed to team up to buy it. Loading The $300 million project would need a lot of money to succeed. To help fulfil the dream development, Anderson and Chiodo set up a property fund to bring in new investors. That fund would hold the Port Douglas resort project, five of Chiodo's smaller-scale residential developments in the holiday town and smaller ones in the Melbourne suburbs of Glenroy, Ashburton, Bentleigh and Doncaster East. Anderson's First Guardian would manage the fund as trustee, invest $95 million and help bring in investors and grow the fund to $500 million. In 2019, Anderson and Chiodo set up another business, CF Capital. It was owned by First Guardian, operated by Chiodo and licensed under Falcon's financial services licence. Chiodo told this masthead that, at the time, he and Anderson relied on the marketing skills of Sean Niven, a former senior manager within collapsed property investment group Westpoint, to draw customers into the fund. Niven had introduced the two men, Chiodo told this masthead. At the time, Niven had just exited bankruptcy, and it is not suggested he handled money for either Chiodo or Anderson. Years later Niven would be banned from working in financial services. Niven is not under investigation by ASIC in relation to the current scheme, and not accused of wrongdoing in relation to it. The arrangement between the trio was going well until about mid-2021, when the pandemic inflated costs and pushed out the timelines of the fund's property projects. Niven has also pleaded guilty to lying to his bankruptcy trustee in 2020. Soon cracks emerged between Anderson and his board over First Guardian's hefty investment in the Chiodo fund, documents obtained by this masthead indicate. Under pressure from Anderson's board at Falcon Capital, Anderson and Chiodo decided to cut most of the ties between the two groups – First Guardian would sell the CF business and pass on oversight of Chiodo's fund to Chiodo. Minutes from a Falcon board meeting in February 2022 show the relationship between Chiodo and Falcon's board had frayed and that Anderson told the Falcon board he would sever ties with Chiodo. 'The [Chiodo fund] was restructured due to its dire financial position. The handover of trustee services went well,' the minutes note. They also record an audit report had deemed the fund 'insufficient and inconclusive'. The minutes show Chiodo initiated a statutory demand in the Supreme Court of Victoria against First Guardian for not making payments to him as required under their business arrangements. 'This was deemed … to be delusional, and highly unlikely to succeed. Chiodo played down this pathway to avert his creditors from going after him and to divert attention toward First Guardian. FGC [First Guardian Capital] was ahead in terms of its investment flows ... FGC was not in a debt position but rather equity. 'DA [David Anderson] stated that Chiodo had withdrawn the Stat Demand. 'It is now deemed that [Chiodo] is a hostile manager and that a full redemption program would be set in train by DA.' This masthead asked Chiodo if his fund was in trouble and that was why he made the claim. Loading 'What a load of crap!!! This was purely FGC [First Guardian Capital] not willing to honour our settlement agreement,' he said. Anderson would go on to devise a redemption plan to recoup First Guardian's investment in Chiodo's fund by quickly driving thousands of customers into Chiodo's business. Details of this plan have been confirmed by three sources familiar with First Guardian business and correlate with Falcon's board minutes and a timeline presented by ASIC to the court as part of its actions against Chiodo and Anderson. Under the plan, Chiodo established the Shield Master Fund to bring in new investors. That new fund then absorbed Chiodo's financially troubled property investment vehicle. To supercharge the business, Anderson put Chiodo in touch with Merhi and his business partner Osama 'Sammy' Saad. Merhi and Saad would bring in social media marketing expert Rashid Alshakshir, the former business partner of feared outlaw bikie Hasan Topal. Alshakshir, Merhi and Saad would devise a customer funnel, using social media ads encouraging people to 'find their lost super' or consolidate multiple accounts. Ultimately, it drove customers to Merhi and Saad's financial planning business and then onto Chiodo and Anderson's funds. There is no suggestion that Merhi, Saad and Alshakshir had knowledge of the fund's investments or any misuse of their clients' money, only that ASIC is investigating whether they breached obligations to their clients as financial advisers. As Chiodo's fund grew to $480 million, Anderson had the chance to recoup First Guardian's $95 million in the fund. He never did. Chiodo insisted to this masthead that his and Anderson's use of the same marketing strategy was not a joint plan. Instead, he said: 'David was trying to convince Ferras to allocate a greater portion [of customers] to his fund in order to cover David's need for the redemption.' Anderson and Chiodo would pay out $100 million – or 10 per cent of the money invested with them – to their marketing crew, who now drove Bentleys and other flash cars and had upgraded to lovely homes in Melbourne's better northern suburbs. As the funds swelled with super savings, both men allegedly went on a spending spree using other people's money. Anderson bought a dream home in Melbourne's leafy Hawthorn overlooking the Yarra River and pumped millions into fine dining restaurants via a business arrangement with celebrity chef Scott Pickett and, separately, set up two restaurants in inner Melbourne, one a South-east Asian eatery with 18 craft beers on tap. Chiodo would burn millions pulling together a portfolio of wish-list luxury development proposals in K'gari, Fiji and Venice, rent a corporate box at the MCG and host events with sporting stars like Floyd Mayweather and Josh Giddey. When ASIC came knocking on Chiodo's door in late 2023, Anderson was suddenly focused on First Guardian's investment in the Chiodo fund. In May 2024 Anderson attempted to sell the investment to an American group which never paid, and the investment remained within the Shield fund. Whether that investment, like many others made by Anderson and Chiodo, will ever be reclaimed for investors remains to be seen. Loading As for the property in Port Douglas, despite Chiodo claiming to have spent more than $70 million on works to build the resort, the project was never developed. Earlier this year receivers appointed agents to sell the property on behalf of its lenders. No return is expected for Chiodo's investors from the sale.
The Age
29 minutes ago
- The Age
The quiet partnership behind a $1 billion superannuation collapse
As the sun set on 2018, two little-known fund managers were toasting the property deal of a lifetime – the bargain-basement purchase of a sprawling resort overlooking the Coral Sea in Port Douglas. The men, Falcon Capital's David Anderson and Paul Chiodo of Keystone Asset Management, had big dreams of turning the tired three-star hotel into a six-star luxury resort the likes of which had never been seen on Australian shores. Two years later, Chiodo and Anderson pulled off a coup by signing major hotel chain Accor to bring the first-ever ultra-luxury Fairmont resort to Australia and recruiting celebrity gardener Jamie Durie to help design the incredible complex. It would mark the start of a six-year rollercoaster business relationship between Anderson and Chiodo that ended in more public ignominy than either could have imagined. They are now under investigation by the corporate watchdog for criminal and civil breaches of their responsibilities as fund managers, including fraud, according to thousands of pages of documents filed in the Federal Court. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) compiled the dossier to convince a judge to freeze the assets of both men and ban them from leaving the country. The regulator has yet to launch substantive court proceedings against any of the players, and may not, but to win the orders, which are regarded as draconian, it had to show it would have a good case. Chiodo and Anderson did not appear at the hearings to oppose ASIC's applications but both deny the allegations, and neither has been charged as a result of ASIC's long-running investigation. Chiodo and Falcon (Anderson's company) both separately sought to stop liquidators taking control of their business, claiming they had been unfairly targeted. Anderson did consent to receivers being appointed over his personal assets, including his home, in April. What the public has not been aware of before is that Chiodo and Anderson have long been business partners and worked together to sow the seeds for what would become a $1 billion superannuation disaster for 12000 people across the country. Anderson's First Guardian Master Fund and Falcon Capital businesses have collapsed, likely wiping out the entirety of the $446 million in retirement savings invested in the fund. Chiodo's similarly sized Shield Master Fund and Keystone business have also collapsed, putting at risk $480 million in superannuation of their 6000 clients. ASIC suspects much of the super savings in the two funds had been squandered on pet projects, luxury cars and what the regulator says are unusual payments to the men's private companies. Both men have denied these allegations, saying ASIC has misunderstood their businesses and that its suspicions of mismanagement are unfounded and unfair. This masthead is not suggesting those allegations are true, just that they have been made as part of ASIC's long-running and ongoing investigation into the men. Liquidators are now picking through the wreckage of each group and have found many of the investments made by Anderson and Chiodo 'have no value', and returns for investors, particularly in the First Guardian business, are expected to be as low as 20 cents in the dollar or less. Now an investigation by this masthead has found deep ties between the men. Drawing from 7000 documents filed by the regulator in its cases against the men and information provided by more than a dozen sources working within associated businesses or familiar with the ASIC investigation, this masthead can reveal the two had for seven years been business partners and co-investors, including in six different property projects and investment group CF Capital. Anderson also invested one-fifth of First Guardian's funds – or $95 million – into Chiodo's property business and helped him restructure when it got into financial trouble in 2021. It can also be revealed that Anderson and Chiodo used the same investment scheme marketers and financial planners to promote their now failed funds as part of a plan to allow Anderson to recoup that $95 million investment in Chiodo's business. Chiodo confirmed to this masthead that he and Anderson had been joint venture partners in a range of projects over several years. But he insisted that - other than the $95 million investment - there were no existing ties between their businesses or the use of the same group of investment promoters, including financial planning group Venture Egg boss Ferras Merhi. He also said that he and Anderson had not been on good terms since around 2021. 'It's not linked, they [the funds] are not linked, it was not a case of 'hey Ferras can you help us out with our problem?'. There were separate agreements,' Chiodo said. The business partnership between Chiodo and Anderson brought together two different skill sets. Blue blood Anderson, 43, moved in the worlds of investment banking and high finance. At the age of 20 he told the Herald Sun that, while watching the 2000 tech stocks crash on the large electronic sharemarket boards in the foyer of the ASX building, he had predicted the rout: 'At least this crash is going to knock some sense into people.' After joining Falcon, by 2018 Anderson – a fine dining and craft beer fanatic – had amassed a large portfolio of farming land and wanted more deals, focusing his sights on property in Port Douglas. Chiodo, a man with equally large aspirations, was there to help. From a blue-collar background, Chiodo had been working in property development for years, initially in mid-sized residential projects in Melbourne and a high-end set of apartments in Port Douglas. He was also looking for new deals, and when the large resort property in the tropical idyll came on the market in late 2018, the pair agreed to team up to buy it. Loading The $300 million project would need a lot of money to succeed. To help fulfil the dream development, Anderson and Chiodo set up a property fund to bring in new investors. That fund would hold the Port Douglas resort project, five of Chiodo's smaller-scale residential developments in the holiday town and smaller ones in the Melbourne suburbs of Glenroy, Ashburton, Bentleigh and Doncaster East. Anderson's First Guardian would manage the fund as trustee, invest $95 million and help bring in investors and grow the fund to $500 million. In 2019, Anderson and Chiodo set up another business, CF Capital. It was owned by First Guardian, operated by Chiodo and licensed under Falcon's financial services licence. Chiodo told this masthead that, at the time, he and Anderson relied on the marketing skills of Sean Niven, a former senior manager within collapsed property investment group Westpoint, to draw customers into the fund. Niven had introduced the two men, Chiodo told this masthead. At the time, Niven had just exited bankruptcy, and it is not suggested he handled money for either Chiodo or Anderson. Years later Niven would be banned from working in financial services. Niven is not under investigation by ASIC in relation to the current scheme, and not accused of wrongdoing in relation to it. The arrangement between the trio was going well until about mid-2021, when the pandemic inflated costs and pushed out the timelines of the fund's property projects. Niven has also pleaded guilty to lying to his bankruptcy trustee in 2020. Soon cracks emerged between Anderson and his board over First Guardian's hefty investment in the Chiodo fund, documents obtained by this masthead indicate. Under pressure from Anderson's board at Falcon Capital, Anderson and Chiodo decided to cut most of the ties between the two groups – First Guardian would sell the CF business and pass on oversight of Chiodo's fund to Chiodo. Minutes from a Falcon board meeting in February 2022 show the relationship between Chiodo and Falcon's board had frayed and that Anderson told the Falcon board he would sever ties with Chiodo. 'The [Chiodo fund] was restructured due to its dire financial position. The handover of trustee services went well,' the minutes note. They also record an audit report had deemed the fund 'insufficient and inconclusive'. The minutes show Chiodo initiated a statutory demand in the Supreme Court of Victoria against First Guardian for not making payments to him as required under their business arrangements. 'This was deemed … to be delusional, and highly unlikely to succeed. Chiodo played down this pathway to avert his creditors from going after him and to divert attention toward First Guardian. FGC [First Guardian Capital] was ahead in terms of its investment flows ... FGC was not in a debt position but rather equity. 'DA [David Anderson] stated that Chiodo had withdrawn the Stat Demand. 'It is now deemed that [Chiodo] is a hostile manager and that a full redemption program would be set in train by DA.' This masthead asked Chiodo if his fund was in trouble and that was why he made the claim. Loading 'What a load of crap!!! This was purely FGC [First Guardian Capital] not willing to honour our settlement agreement,' he said. Anderson would go on to devise a redemption plan to recoup First Guardian's investment in Chiodo's fund by quickly driving thousands of customers into Chiodo's business. Details of this plan have been confirmed by three sources familiar with First Guardian business and correlate with Falcon's board minutes and a timeline presented by ASIC to the court as part of its actions against Chiodo and Anderson. Under the plan, Chiodo established the Shield Master Fund to bring in new investors. That new fund then absorbed Chiodo's financially troubled property investment vehicle. To supercharge the business, Anderson put Chiodo in touch with Merhi and his business partner Osama 'Sammy' Saad. Merhi and Saad would bring in social media marketing expert Rashid Alshakshir, the former business partner of feared outlaw bikie Hasan Topal. Alshakshir, Merhi and Saad would devise a customer funnel, using social media ads encouraging people to 'find their lost super' or consolidate multiple accounts. Ultimately, it drove customers to Merhi and Saad's financial planning business and then onto Chiodo and Anderson's funds. There is no suggestion that Merhi, Saad and Alshakshir had knowledge of the fund's investments or any misuse of their clients' money, only that ASIC is investigating whether they breached obligations to their clients as financial advisers. As Chiodo's fund grew to $480 million, Anderson had the chance to recoup First Guardian's $95 million in the fund. He never did. Chiodo insisted to this masthead that his and Anderson's use of the same marketing strategy was not a joint plan. Instead, he said: 'David was trying to convince Ferras to allocate a greater portion [of customers] to his fund in order to cover David's need for the redemption.' Anderson and Chiodo would pay out $100 million – or 10 per cent of the money invested with them – to their marketing crew, who now drove Bentleys and other flash cars and had upgraded to lovely homes in Melbourne's better northern suburbs. As the funds swelled with super savings, both men allegedly went on a spending spree using other people's money. Anderson bought a dream home in Melbourne's leafy Hawthorn overlooking the Yarra River and pumped millions into fine dining restaurants via a business arrangement with celebrity chef Scott Pickett and, separately, set up two restaurants in inner Melbourne, one a South-east Asian eatery with 18 craft beers on tap. Chiodo would burn millions pulling together a portfolio of wish-list luxury development proposals in K'gari, Fiji and Venice, rent a corporate box at the MCG and host events with sporting stars like Floyd Mayweather and Josh Giddey. When ASIC came knocking on Chiodo's door in late 2023, Anderson was suddenly focused on First Guardian's investment in the Chiodo fund. In May 2024 Anderson attempted to sell the investment to an American group which never paid, and the investment remained within the Shield fund. Whether that investment, like many others made by Anderson and Chiodo, will ever be reclaimed for investors remains to be seen. Loading As for the property in Port Douglas, despite Chiodo claiming to have spent more than $70 million on works to build the resort, the project was never developed. Earlier this year receivers appointed agents to sell the property on behalf of its lenders. No return is expected for Chiodo's investors from the sale.
7NEWS
29 minutes ago
- 7NEWS
White House orders review of Smithsonian museums and exhibits to make sure they align with Trump's vision
The White House is conducting a comprehensive internal review of exhibits and materials at the Smithsonian Institution — the organisation that runs the nation's major public museums — in an effort to comply with US President Donald Trump 's directive about what should and shouldn't be displayed. The initiative, a trio of top Trump aides wrote in a letter to Smithsonian Institution secretary Lonnie Bunch III, 'aims to ensure alignment with the President's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions'. It marks the latest move by the Trump administration to impose the president's views on US cultural and historical institutions and purge materials focused on diversity. Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order accusing the Smithsonian Institution of having 'come under the influence of a divisive, face-centred ideology' that has 'promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive'. Trump's action put Vice President JD Vance in charge of stopping government spending on 'exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy'. The letter released Tuesday — signed by Trump aides Lindsey Halligan, the senior associate staff secretary; Vince Haley, the Domestic Policy Council director; and Russell Vought, the Office of Management and Budget director — says the review will focus on public-facing content, the curatorial process to understand how work is selected for exhibit, current and future exhibition planning, the use of existing materials and collections, and guidelines for narrative standards. Eight key, Washington, DC-based Smithsonian museums will be part of the first phase of the review: the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Additional museums, the letter said, will be announced in a second phase. The Smithsonian said it was 'reviewing' the letter and planned to work 'constructively' with the White House. 'The Smithsonian's work is grounded in a deep commitment to scholarly excellence, rigorous research, and the accurate, factual presentation of history. We are reviewing the letter with this commitment in mind and will continue to collaborate constructively with the White House, Congress, and our governing Board of Regents,' the statement said. The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum complex, including 21 museums and the National Zoo. Nearly 17 million people visited Smithsonian properties last year, according to the museum's website. Admission at nearly all the museums is free. The Smithsonian began a review of its own in June, and has repeatedly stressed its commitment to being nonpartisan. The institution said in July that it was committed to an 'unbiased presentation of facts and history' and that it would 'make any necessary changes to ensure our content meets our standards.' The letter calls on each museum to designate a point of contact to provide details on plans for programming to highlight the country's 250th anniversary. It also asks for a full catalogue of all current and ongoing exhibitions and budgets, a list of all travelling exhibitions and plans for the next three years, and all internal guidelines, including staff manuals, job descriptions, and organisational charts, along with internal communications about exhibition artwork selection and approval. That material is due within 30 days, with 'on-site observational visits' and walkthroughs expected. Within 75 days, Trump administration officials will schedule and conduct 'voluntary interviews with curators and senior staff.' And within 120 days, museums 'should begin implementing content corrections where necessary, replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate, and constructive descriptions across placards, wall didactics, digital displays, and other public-facing materials'. Last month, the National Museum of American History removed a temporary placard referencing Trump's two impeachments from an exhibit related to the presidency, prompting public outcry against the museum and claims it was capitulating to Trump. In follow-up statements, the museum system insisted the placard's removal was temporary and denied it had been pressured by any government official to make changes to its exhibits. It was reinstalled days ago, with some changes. The exhibit now is set up in a way that places information about Trump's two impeachments in a lower spot, with some changes to the placard's text.
