On Friday, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History removed some of the language used to explain President Donald Trump’s historic two impeachments, softening the description amid the institution’s ongoing review of its content to address increased scrutiny from the administration. Language referring to both impeachments—from 2019 over his dealings with Ukraine and 2021 following the January 6 attack on the Capitol—was altered.
Previously, the display mentioned Trump’s 2021 incitement charge being based on “repeated ‘false statements’ challenging the 2020 election results” and giving a speech that “encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — imminent lawless action at the Capitol.”
Now, the label reads: “On Jan. 13, 2021, Donald Trump became the first president to be impeached twice. The charge was incitement of insurrection based on his challenge of the 2020 election results and on his speech on Jan. 6. Because Trump’s term ended on Jan. 20, he became the first former president tried by the Senate. He was acquitted on Feb. 13, 2021.”
In the section that addresses Trump’s first impeachment, the Smithsonian added the word “alleged” to the following line: “The charges focused on the president’s alleged solicitation of foreign interference in the 2020 presidential election and defiance of Congressional subpoenas.”
The reworked language comes after the institution removed references to Trump’s two impeachments from an exhibit display in late July, with the promise that an updated version was to come. The decision to remove the language was made by the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents, the governing body of the institution. The group had committed to reviewing its content in response to pressure from the Trump administration. Trump, as The New York Times reports, “has called for what he has described as a more positive framing of the country’s history in Smithsonian museums.”
The administration’s increased scrutiny of the Smithsonian Institution—a museum, education, and research complex of 21 museums and the National Zoological Park, which saw almost 17 million visitors in 2024—has been happening for months.
In March, Trump signed an Executive Order targeting the Smithsonian. The order, titled “Restoring Truth And Sanity To American History,” accused the network of museums of being a part of a “revisionist movement” that “seeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.”
“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,” the order reads. “This shift has promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.”
The move called on Vice President JD Vance, who has a spot on the Smithsonian’s board, along with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to work with Congress to prohibit expenditures on exhibitions or programs that “degrade shared American values, divide Americans by race or promote ideologies inconsistent with federal law.”
