The National Museum of History of the United States of Smithsonian will once again mention President Donald Trump in an exhibition on presidential judgments after the elimination of a poster that pointed out that his two judgments of the Senate caused concerns this week about the influence of the White House in the institution.
In a statement on Saturday, the Smithsonian detailed his decision to eliminate the Trump poster from the “political trial” section of an exhibition entitled “The US Presidency: a glorious burden”, saying that the decision was not influenced by politics, but by the conditions of the poster.
“The poster, which was destined to be a temporary addition to a 25 -year exhibition, did not meet the museum standards, location, timeline and general presentation,” said Smithsonian’s Saturday statement. “It was not consistent with other sections in the exhibition and, in addition, it blocked the view of the objects within their case. For these reasons, we eliminate the poster.”
The “Dismissal” section of the exhibition “will be updated in the coming weeks to reflect all political trial procedures in the history of our nation,” said Smithsonian.
The Washington Post was the first to inform about the changes in the exhibition.
According to the post, Trump’s references were eliminated from the exhibition after the Smithsonian undertook a content review after the white house pressure and the accusations of partisan bias.
In his statement, Smithsonian said that “no administration or other government official did not ask him to eliminate the content of the exhibition.”
The exhibition of “The American Presidenty: A Glorious Burden” was created in 2000 and has not been formally updated since 2008, Smithsonian spokesman said to NBC News on Thursday. Instead of an update, which the museum indicated that it would be expensive, the Smithsonian in 2021 placed a poster that indicated Trump’s two accusations to the exhibition.
“It was intended to be a short -term measure to address current events at that time, however, the label remained in place until July 2025,” said the spokesman on Thursday.
Because the exhibition, which also covers the Congress and the Supreme Court, had not been updated since 2008, the museum decided to restore the “political trial” of the gallery “section” back to its appearance in 2008, “said the spokesman at that time.
The decision to eliminate the Trump label caused criticism of legislators, particularly because Trump has tried to exert its influence on the Smithsonian, which covers 21 museums, nine research centers and a zoo.
The leader of the Senate minority, Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., on Friday to try to “rewrite the story.”
“He is censoring the American History Museum. It’s Orwelliano. It’s frankly Orwellian. It’s something you would see in an authoritarian regime,” said Schumer. “Here is my message to the president: it doesn’t matter what exhibitions try to distort, the American people will never forget that they did not accuse you not one, but twice.”
Trump has requested a reinvention of Smithsonian, accusing the cultural institution in March of arriving “under the influence of a divisive ideology focused on the race” and signing an executive order to “restore the Smithsonian institution to its legitimate place as a symbol of American inspiration and greatness.” In that order, Trump ordered the vice president JD Vance to work with the Smithsonian Board of Regents to “eliminate the inadequate ideology” of museums.
Trump also prohibited spending on exhibitions or programs “that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with federal law and politics.”
Last week, artist Amy Sherald said she withdrew her exhibition from the National Gallery of Portraits of Smithsonian after the concerns about a portrait she presented with a transgender woman dressed as the statue of freedom were raised.
“The National Portrait Gallery informed me that the concerns had been raised internally about the inclusion of the museum of a portrait of a trans woman titled Transing Forming Liberty. These concerns led to discussions about the elimination of the work of the exhibition,” Sherald said in a statement. “I cannot fulfill in good awareness with a culture of censorship, especially when it is aimed at vulnerable communities.”
A Smithsonian spokesman played the characterization of the Smithsonian incident, arguing that the artist was not asked to eliminate the painting, but that the museum wanted to contextualize the portrait through a video with different opinions.
“Smithsonian strives to foster a greater and shared understanding. By presenting and contextualizing art, Smithsonian aims to inspire, challenge and impact the public in a significant and reflective way. Unfortunately, we could not reach an agreement with the artist,” said the spokesman.
