After the Trump administration assumed control of the Smithsonian Institution’s public messaging in March, the museum network is facing criticism for what some are calling an attempt to rewrite history.
According to a report by The Washington Post, a key exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has recently undergone a controversial change. The exhibit, titled The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden, includes a section on U.S. presidents who have faced impeachment, featuring Andrew Jackson, Bill Clinton, and Richard Nixon. (Jackson and Clinton were impeached, while Nixon resigned before proceedings could conclude.)
Since September 2021, a temporary label had been added noting that President Donald Trump was impeached twice. That label, accompanied by a sign reading “Case under redesign (history happens),” has now been removed.
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The Post reported that this decision was part of a broader content review initiated after the White House pressured the Smithsonian to remove an art museum director. With the removal of Trump’s mention, the exhibit has reverted to the claim that “only three presidents have seriously faced removal.”
A Smithsonian spokesperson explained to the outlet that the label was always meant as a temporary addition in response to unfolding events.
“In reviewing our legacy content recently, it became clear that the ‘Limits of Presidential Power’ section in The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden exhibition needed to be addressed,” the statement said. “The section covers Congress, The Supreme Court, Impeachment, and Public Opinion. 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.”
Trump made history in January 2021 when he became the first U.S. president to be impeached twice. The House of Representatives impeached him on the charge of “incitement of insurrection” following the January 6 Capitol riots. That vote passed 232-197, with 10 Republicans siding with Democrats.
Trump’s first impeachment occurred in December 2019, when the House charged him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. This followed accusations that he withheld $400 million in military aid from Ukraine while urging President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate political rival Joe Biden.
Following the Washington Post’s story about the exhibit changes, the Smithsonian stated that “a future and updated exhibit will include all impeachments.”
Trump’s broader plans to reshape the Smithsonian began on March 27 with an executive order titled Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History. In it, he directed Vice President J.D. Vance, serving on the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents, to eliminate what he termed “improper ideology” from all Smithsonian museums, research centers, and even the National Zoo.
The order claimed the institution had strayed from its mission: “Once widely respected as a symbol of American excellence and a global icon of cultural achievement, the Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology.”
It specifically criticized the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the American Women’s History Museum, alleging they featured exhibits that pushed “ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives.”
The directive further tasked Vance and Russell Vought — a Project 2025 architect now overseeing Trump’s Office of Management and Budget — with ensuring that Smithsonian funding would no longer support exhibits that “degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy.”
