The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History said it is slated to restore the placard with information about President Trump’s two impeachments after removing it from the exhibit last month.
The museum said in a Saturday statement that the section will be “updated in the coming weeks to reflect all impeachment proceedings in our nation’s history.”
The Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing an unnamed source familiar with the exhibit plans, that the removal of the placard occurred as part of an internal content review the institution agreed to after pressure from President Trump’s administration to get rid of the art museum director.
The Smithsonian said on Saturday that the placard, part of the exhibit “The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden,” did not meet the institution’s standards and argued no one within the administration asked the museum to remove the information.
“The placard, which was meant to be a temporary addition to a twenty-five-year-old exhibition, did not meet the museum’s standards in appearance, location, timeline and overall presentation. It was not consistent with other sections in the exhibit and moreover blocked the view of the objects inside its case,” the Smithsonian said in a statement.
“For these reasons, we removed the placard. We were not asked by any Administration or other government official to remove content from the exhibit,” the museum added.
The placard, before being removed last month, detailed Trump’s two impeachments and was featured as part of the exhibit since September 2021, the Smithsonian previously told The Hill.
“It was intended to be a short-term measure to address current events at the time, however, the label remained in place until July 2025,” a Smithsonian spokesperson said.
“The section of this exhibition covers Congress, The Supreme Court, Impeachment, and Public Opinion,” the spokesperson added. “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 president was impeached two times during his first White House term: once over a phone call where he allegedly asked Ukraine to investigate then-ex-President Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, and the other over his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He was acquitted by the Senate in both instances.
The removal of the placard drew backlash from Democratic Party lawmakers.
Trump signed an executive order in March, ordering the removal of “divisive narratives” from the Smithsonian museums that are not compatible with the administration’s views and “remind” Americans “of our extraordinary heritage.”
“As the keeper of memory for the nation, it is our privilege and responsibility to tell accurate and complete histories. As has been recently reported, in July, a placard was removed from the National Museum of American History’s exhibit ‘The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden,’” the Smithsonian said on Saturday.
“The intent of the Impeachment section of the exhibit is to reflect all impeachment proceedings in our nation’s history,” the institution added.
