The Smithsonian removes a Trump impeachment reference from an exhibit
but says it's temporary
[August 02, 2025]
By HILLEL ITALIE
NEW YORK (AP) — The Smithsonian Institution has removed from an exhibit
a reference to President Donald Trump's two impeachments, a decision
that comes as the White House exerts pressure to offer a more positive —
and selective — view of American history. A spokesperson said the
exhibit eventually “will include all impeachments.”
A label referring to impeachment had been added in 2021 to the National
Museum for American History's exhibit on the American presidency, in a
section called “Limits of Presidential Power.” Smithsonian spokesperson
Phillip Zimmerman said Friday that the section, which includes materials
on the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and the Watergate scandal
that helped lead to President Richard Nixon's resignation, needed to be
overhauled. He said the decision came after the museum was “reviewing
our legacy content recently.”
“Because the other topics in this section had not been updated since
2008, the decision was made to restore the Impeachment case back to its
2008 appearance," Zimmerman said in an email.
He said that in September 2021, the museum installed a temporary label
on content concerning Trump's impeachments. "It was intended to be a
short-term measure to address current events at the time,” he said. But
the label remained in place.
“A large permanent gallery like The American Presidency that opened in
2000 requires a significant amount of time and funding to update and
renew,” he said. "A future and updated exhibit will include all
impeachments.”
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said the Smithsonian has
“highlighted divisive DEI exhibits which are out of touch with
mainstream America” for too long.
“We are fully supportive of updating displays to highlight American
greatness,” he said in a statement that did not address the missing
reference to Trump's impeachments.
Trump's impeachments were more recent
Trump is only the president to have been impeached twice — in 2019, for
pushing Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden,
who would defeat Trump in the 2020 election; and in 2021 for "incitement
of insurrection," a reference to the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol by
Trump supporters attempting to halt Congressional certification of
Biden's victory.
[to top of second column]
|
People visit the Smithsonian Museum of American History on the
National Mall in Washington, April 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez
Monsivais, File)
The Democratic majority in the House voted each time for
impeachment. The Republican-led Senate each time acquitted Trump.
Soon after Trump's first impeachment, the history museum issued a
statement saying that curators “will determine which objects best
represent these historic events for inclusion in the national
collection.”
Since returning to office in January, Trump has cut funding, forced
out officials and otherwise demanded changes across a range of
Washington cultural institutions, including the Smithsonian, the
Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center and the National Endowment
for the Humanities.
The current administration has targeted interpretations of
history
In March, Trump issued an executive order entitled “Restoring Truth
and Sanity to American History," in which he alleged that the
Smithsonian was beholden to “a divisive, race-centered ideology." He
has placed Vice President J.D. Vance in charge of an effort to
ensure no funding goes to “exhibits or programs that degrade shared
American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs
or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy.”
Congressional Democrats issued a statement in April calling Trump's
order a “flagrant attempt to erase Black history.”
Last week, artist Amy Sherald canceled a planned exhibit at the
National Portrait Gallery after officials raised concerns over her
painting “Trans Forming Liberty, 2024,” in which she depicts a
nonbinary transgender person posing as the Statue of Liberty.
Sherald is best known for her painting of then-first lady Michelle
Obama, which was commissioned by the Portrait Gallery.
Founded in the 19th century, the Smithsonian oversees a network of
cultural centers that includes the portrait gallery, the history
museum, the National Zoo and the Smithsonian Gardens. News of the
Trump impeachment label being removed was first reported by The
Washington Post.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
