The Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery has swapped in an updated portrait of President Donald Trump for its “America’s Presidents” exhibition and replaced the accompanying label with a shorter caption that no longer references his impeachments or the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
On Saturday, Jan. 10, the official White House X account posted photos of the updated display. According to The Washington Post, the new black-and-white portrait was taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok and shows Trump, 79, looking directly into the camera from behind the Resolute Desk.
The previous portrait, photographed by Washington Post photojournalist Matt McClain, showed Trump with his hands folded and was displayed with a longer text panel summarizing his first term and reelection. The earlier label included a passage noting he had been impeached twice — on allegations of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection — and acquitted by the Senate in both trials, The Washington Post reported. The new label, by contrast, lists only Trump’s years in office.
The updated approach differs from the gallery’s presentation for other presidents, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, whose portraits are typically paired with placards describing notable developments from their administrations — including Clinton’s impeachment.
A National Portrait Gallery spokeswoman, Concetta Duncan, told The Washington Post the museum is exploring less detailed “tombstone labels” for some newer displays and noted that Trump’s portrait in the “America’s Presidents” exhibition has been changed previously. The gallery did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Saturday.
The Washington Post also reported that a Trump administration official complained months earlier about the prior label’s language, during a period when the White House was pressing to remove the museum’s then-director, Kim Sajet. In June, Trump publicly criticized Sajet as “highly partisan,” and she later resigned. Soon after, the White House threatened to withhold Smithsonian funding unless the institution cooperated with an administration review of museum content for what it called “improper ideology.”
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The portrait gallery change is not the first time Smithsonian exhibits have been revised in ways that affect references to Trump’s impeachments. In July, a temporary placard was removed from the National Museum of American History’s “The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden” exhibition, which includes a section about presidents who were impeached or faced potential impeachment, such as Bill Clinton, Andrew Jackson, and Richard Nixon.
Since September 2021, that exhibit had displayed a temporary label addressing Trump’s two impeachments along with a notice telling visitors the case was “under redesign (history happens).” The Washington Post reported the label was removed in July 2025 as part of a content review the Smithsonian agreed to undertake following White House pressure tied to an art museum director dispute. The exhibit has since reverted to language suggesting that “only three presidents have seriously faced removal,” without referencing Trump.
A Smithsonian spokesperson told The Washington Post the Trump-related label had been intended as a short-term addition to address current events.
