The Smithsonian Institution has firmly denied allegations that political pressure influenced the removal of a display about US President Donald Trump’s impeachments from a prominent history museum in Washington, DC.
According to the institution, the “temporary” placard was taken down because it failed to meet the museum’s standards for “appearance, location, timeline, and overall presentation”. The Smithsonian Institution stated, “It was not consistent with other sections in the exhibit and moreover blocked the view of the objects inside its case. For these reasons, we removed the placard. We were not asked by any Administration or other government officials to remove content from the exhibit”.
The institution has announced plans to update the impeachment section of the museum to reflect all impeachment proceedings in US history. This decision comes after The Washington Post reported that the museum removed an explicit reference to Trump’s impeachments, resulting in the exhibit incorrectly stating that “only three presidents have seriously faced removal”.
Critics argue that the removal was a capitulation to Trump’s authoritarian whims. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer responded, “You can run, but you cannot hide from the judgment of history… No matter what exhibits you try to distort, the American people will never forget that you were impeached – not once, but twice”.
Trump’s actions have raised concerns about his influence on political, cultural, and media institutions as part of his “Make America Great Again” agenda. In March, he signed an executive order aimed at removing “improper ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution’s properties and denying funding for exhibits that “degrade shared American values” or “divide Americans based on race”. Trump’s presidency has been marked by controversy, including two impeachments by the House of Representatives in 2019 and 2021, although he was acquitted by the Senate on both occasions.
