Smithsonian defies Trump and restores damning detail to his national portrait

The Smithsonian Institution restored a key detail about Trump's first administration when unveiling the updated wall text for his national portrait, the New York Times reported.

The updated wall text accompanying Trump's image at the National Portrait Gallery, unveiled Friday, will again mention his impeachments during his first term in office, the Times reported.

The Smithsonian had removed the impeachment text from the exhibition, "At a time when Mr. Trump had been critical of the Smithsonian's depiction of American history and sought to exert greater control over the institution," the NYT noted.

The original text brought up that Trump was "impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021," but noted that "he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials," per the report.

Historians had been assured by the Smithsonian that "the removal was part of a larger revamp of how an exhibition at the gallery that focuses on American presidents presents information," according to the Times.

The impeachments are now listed with other "important events" in his administration, including the Abraham Accords, the development of COVID vaccines through Operation Warp Speed, the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and the George Floyd protests in 2020.

The Times noted that "the new format, which is also used to describe other presidents, is more of a historical fact sheet" and omits any mention of why Trump was impeached. However, "the impeachment of Bill Clinton is included in wall text next to his portrait," the NYT reported.

James Millward, a Georgetown University historian who is part of a grass-roots effort to monitor the existing language in Smithsonian museums, told the Times that the institution appeared to push back on the pressure campaign.

“I might quibble with their treatment of the text,” he said. “But there is no sign of them caving to White House pressure with these changes. If they had, those facts about the impeachment wouldn’t be there.”