After a reference to Trump's impeachments is removed from a history museum, complex questions echo

Source: Associated Press

After a reference to Trump’s impeachments is removed from a history museum, complex questions echo

By DEEPTI HAJELA and HILLEL ITALIE
Updated 6:49 PM EDT, August 2, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — It would seem the most straightforward of notions: A thing takes place, and it goes into the history books or is added to museum exhibits. But whether something even gets remembered and how — particularly when it comes to the history of a country and its leader — is often the furthest thing from simple.

The latest example of that came Friday, when the Smithsonian Institution said it had removed a reference to the 2019 and 2021 impeachments of President Donald Trump from a panel in an exhibition about the American presidency. Trump has pressed institutions and agencies under federal oversight, often through the pressure of funding, to focus on the country’s achievements and progress and away from things he terms “divisive.”

The Smithsonian on Saturday denied getting pressure from the Trump administration to remove the reference, which had been installed as part of a temporary addition in 2021. The exhibit “will be updated in the coming weeks to reflect all impeachment proceedings in our nation’s history,” the museum said in a statement.

In a statement that did not directly address the impeachment references, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said: “We are fully supportive of updating displays to highlight American greatness.”

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/smithsonian-trump-history-impeachment-b2b60d952d92df1a4a5233e0d60ecaa6