Smithsonian Board Pushes Back Against Trump Administration

The Trump administration’s second term can only be described as bootleg authoritarianism. They’re certainly trying to be authoritarian as all get out, but as the shock and awe of the early months has faded, it’s clear that ol’ boy is going to be facing pushback from various levels of American society. Take, for instance, the Smithsonian, where President Trump has tried to impose his will not only through executive orders but also by demanding key personnel be fired. On Monday, the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents issued a statement reiterating that “all personnel decisions” are made by Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III and not the president. 

According to the Washington Post, the statement came amidst a power struggle between the president and National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet. Trump claimed to have fired her 10 days ago, but in an admittedly baller move, Sajet has continued showing up to work as usual.

The reason for the struggle? The president believes she’s “highly partisan and a strong supporter of DEI.” His evidence for this is that she had previously donated to Democratic fundraisers and has said in interviews that she wanted to increase representation at the gallery. 

I may be out of line here, but it really sounds like Trump is biased against anyone who doesn’t adhere to his worldview. 

Given the massive ego and paper-thin skin of our current commander in chief, it wouldn’t be surprising if this attack on the Smithsonian all boiled down to Sajet rejecting a massive portrait of Trump from the gallery during his first term. Julian Raven, the artist of the painting, told the Washingtonian in 2019 that Sajet told him the painting was “too pro-Trump” and “too political.”

She’s a better person than me, cause I would’ve just told old boy “nah,” on the basis that it’s butt ugly. I’ve seen airbrushed T-shirts in the mall with more artistic merit. Heck, “Cats”  had more going for it than the painting. 

If bias were truly a concern for the Trump administration, they wouldn’t have canceled several events scheduled at the Kennedy Center related to World Pride. If your goal is to remove bias outright, then the way you achieve that is by presenting a 50/50 split of ideas. Of course, this crusade is not about bias; it’s about the Trump administration silencing any idea they deem “dangerous” or don’t agree with.

Trump’s attempted firing of Sajet is only the latest in a long string of attacks on the Smithsonian. In March, the president signed an executive order demanding that the Smithsonian remove all exhibits that promote “improper ideology.” This order seems targeted at the National Museum of African American History, aka “the Blacksonian,” which has seen its former director leave earlier this year, and concerns mount about exhibits being removed from the museum. 

The Smithsonian Board of Regents, which counts Vice President JD Vance amongst their ranks, seems to be trying to walk a tightrope between adhering to the executive order while also maintaining some degree of autonomy. They allude to the order in their statement, saying that the board has directed Bunch to ensure the Smithsonian remains focused on “unbiased content.” 

“The Board of Regents is committed to ensuring that the Smithsonian is a beacon of scholarship free from political or partisan influence, and we recognize that our institution can and must do more to further these foundational values,” the Board wrote in its statement.

The Trump administration’s efforts to put a chokehold on the Smithsonian and the national arts at large haven’t exactly gone swimmingly. In February, the president removed the board overseeing the Kennedy Center, installed a group of loyalists to replace them, and that group of loyalists then appointed Trump himself as the Chairman. Vice President JD Vance was booed when he attended a show at the Kennedy Center shortly after this overhaul. Trump’s effort to make the “Kennedy Center Great Again” has resulted in several high-profile productions canceling their performances at the venue, and revenue is trending significantly down.

So yeah, the guy is clearly crushing it. 

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