On Thursday night, the White House appeared to condemn various artworks, performances and objects from the Smithsonian institution, continuing the Donald Trump protest against the museum network.
Articles on the list, published on the White House website, called “President Trump is right to the Smithsonians,” which includes some shows that the president has already condemned, including a sculpture about sculptures as powers at the Smithsonian American Art Gallery. He also again attacked the National Museum of African American History and Culture, showing “white dominant culture,” which he had already picked out in executive orders earlier this year.
But the list also lists many speeches Trump never mentioned, one of which was never even installed at the Smithsonian Museum.
On the list is a black trans woman who is the Statue of Liberty by Amy Sherald, which will appear in the National Portrait Gallery version of her travel survey. Sherald pulled up the iteration of the exhibition, accusing censorship and claiming that the museum asked her not to display the painting, which has appeared in the Whitney Museum version.
In some cases, it is offensive that Trump has named the specific artwork he seems to say. One of them is the 2022 painting by Rigoberto A. González Refugees crossing the border wall into southern TexasThis is the finalist of a portrait contest played by the National Portrait Gallery. A White House-Run account posted a photo of work on Thursday to X, writing: “This is what President Trump meant when he said the Smithsonians were “out of control.”
The National Portrait Gallery has also been denounced for commissioning a frozen portrait of Anthony Fauci, who served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and has frequently protested his response to the COVID-19-19 pandemic for Trump.
There is also a statue of Liberty on the list, including Lady Liberty holding tomatoes instead of torches. Protesters used sculptures during a worker rights protest in Mokalee, Florida in 2000 and are now in the collection of the National Museum of History.
The list includes some speeches that are no longer viewed, including a National Museum of African Art 2023 around the Kingdom of Drexit. Like all the other bullets on the list, the White House quotes of the show do not elaborate on why Trump opposed it, but rely heavily on the offer from the Smithsonian Ruins.
The Trump administration also targets wall texts used by Smithsonian institutions such as the National Museum of Latin America, whose descriptions refer to the descriptions of exhibitions on the Black Lives Matter movement, Latinos with Disabilities, Immigration and Colonization. The White House list claims that the museum considers its history fundamentally “crystals and exploitation.” Trump also objected to the terminology used in the “LGBTQ+History” display at the National Museum of History.
This is the second time this week the Trump administration condemns the Smithsonians.
Earlier this week, Trump wrote in a post on the truth about his platform this week: “Everything discussed is how terrible our country is, how bad slavery is, how inconsistent it is, and how terrible it is to be overwhelming – nothing about success, nothing about light, nothing about the future, nothing about the lawyers who allow me to allow me, I have mentored lawyers and have started the college and thus started the scope of the museum. Great progress has been made.”
Trump had previously requested a review of Smithsonian’s products, and the Smithsonian had previously said it would itself evaluate what is being observed. But the Smithsonians had previously affirmed their independence from the government. (While Trump is not on the board, Vice President JD Vance is a member of the Smithsonian board, just like the long-time vice president.) Many question whether Trump has the legal authority needed to make changes to the Smithsonian Museum.
He had previously said that he fired Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery. After Trump announced that he had removed her from the truth social networking, Sajit continued to report on his work. Eventually, she resigned from her position.
