Donald Trump asked the Smithsonian in late Friday social media posts to install a 30-foot statue of George Washington outside the National Museum of American History and open an exhibit honoring the first president. The statue would replace the current "Infinity" sculpture.
What would the exhibit and statues involve? The exhibit would begin now and run through Feb. 22, 2032, the 300th anniversary of Washington's birth, PBS NewsHour reported. The "Infinity" sculpture is a work by New York artist Jose de Rivera, commissioned by the federal government and installed in 1967. For Constitution Day on Sept. 17, Trump also asked the institution to place the 11-foot Washington statue featured at the recent Freedom 250 IndyCar race in the museum's Flag Hall.
What reasons were given for the request? "He is easily America's Greatest Hero. Without him, our Country and our Freedoms wouldn't exist," Trump said on Truth Social as he flew to his golf course in Ireland. He complained that the museum does not currently mention Washington's crossing of the Delaware River during the Revolutionary War. In place of the Center for Restorative History, a recently ended museum initiative to spotlight stories excluded from the national historical narrative, he said the museum should have a "Center for American Heroes."
Can he order the change? It is not clear that Trump has the power to make the museum act, PBS NewsHour reported. The Smithsonian operates outside the executive branch, and its leadership is overseen by a Board of Regents that includes the vice president, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and a group of citizens. The institution's top leader, Lonnie Bunch, announced this week that he would step down at the end of the year.
How does the request fit his earlier moves? Trump set out in March to force changes at the Smithsonian through an executive order that targeted funding for programs advancing "divisive narratives" and "improper ideology," PBS NewsHour reported. A lengthy White House report published this year repeatedly complained that the institution had not done enough to highlight Washington and other founders. In July, Trump ordered his administration to install signs in front of the history museum telling visitors that some exhibits are inaccurate. He also wants a park along the Potomac River displaying statues of 250 prominent Americans, and has installed a statue of Washington in his remodeled Rose Garden patio.
Figures referenced: Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
