Trump’s impeachments have been removed from a Smithsonian exhibit, for now

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. has removed references to President Trump’s two first-term impeachments from an exhibit following a review. The Smithsonian said the references will be restored once the exhibit is updated, but did not provide a timeline.

The exhibit, titled “The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden” includes reference to the impeachments of Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton and the Watergate scandal that engulfed President Richard Nixon, who resigned rather than face certain impeachment. A temporary label was added in 2021 to include President Trump’s impeachments in 2019 and again in 2021, just days before the end of his first term.

But the reference to Trump’s impeachments was removed last month. The Smithsonian said in a statement to NPR that after a recent review of the museum’s “legacy content,” it was decided to pull the reference to Trump’s impeachments – which were placed on the exhibit in September 2021 – pending a more substantial overhaul of the exhibit.

“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,” the statement said. The label on Trump’s impeachments was “intended to be a short-term measure to address current events at the time, however, the label remained in place until July 2025,” the Smithsonian said.

“A large permanent gallery like The American Presidency that opened in 2000, requires [a] significant amount of time and funding to update and renew. A future and updated exhibit will include all impeachments,” the statement said, without providing a timetable for the exhibit’s update.

Last month’s removal of the label follows a confrontation between the White House and Kim Sajet, director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Trump attempted to dismiss Sajet in late May, calling her “a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI.” In response, Smithsonian released a statement on June 9 reaffirming its status as an “independent entity” that operates “free from political or partisan influence.”

The Smithsonian’s Board of Regents said that, moving forward, museum directors and staff would be given “specific expectations” for content, along with “reasonable time” to implement any necessary changes to ensure content remains unbiased. Sajet later resigned.

In March, the president issued an executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” that it said was meant to address “a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”

He singled out the Smithsonian Institution and said the administration would seek “to remove improper ideology from such properties.”

In an email to NPR, White House Spokesperson Davis Ingle wrote: “Unfortunately for far too long the Smithsonian museums have highlighted divisive, DEI exhibits which are out of touch with mainstream America.”

“We are fully supportive of updating displays to highlight American greatness. The Trump administration will continue working to ensure that the Smithsonian removes all improper ideology and once again unites and instills pride in all Americans regarding our great history,” he said.