On August 8, 2025, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History quietly unveiled a revised display on presidential impeachments—one that has become a lightning rod in the ongoing debate over how America’s institutions present its most contentious moments. The new exhibit text, which now stands in the “American Presidency: A Glorious Burden” exhibition, marks a significant shift in how the institution describes former President Donald Trump’s two historic impeachments.
The updated language, which replaces a temporary placard installed in 2021, removes pointed references to Trump’s “repeated ‘false statements’” about the 2020 election and his January 6 speech that “encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — imminent lawless action at the Capitol.” Instead, the new 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.”
That’s not the only alteration. The description of Trump’s first impeachment in 2019 now includes the word “alleged,” stating, “The charges focused on the president’s alleged solicitation of foreign interference in the 2020 presidential election and defiance of Congressional subpoenas.” This change, though subtle, has not gone unnoticed by historians and the public alike.
According to The Washington Post, the updated display now reflects all presidential impeachments, offering “slightly fewer details” than the previous signage. The museum’s statement emphasized, “Adhering to principles foundational to our role as the nation’s museum, we take great care to ensure that what we present to the public reflects both intellectual integrity and thoughtful design.” The Smithsonian further explained that the interim sign, in place from September 2021 until July of this year, was removed because it was inconsistent with other sections of the exhibit and physically blocked the display case.
Yet, the removal and subsequent rewording of the Trump placard have sparked a firestorm of criticism and suspicion. Some Democratic leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, decried the temporary absence of Trump’s impeachment details. “You can’t make this up,” Schumer declared on the Senate floor. “This is a man rewriting history — or thinking he can rewrite history. He can’t, but he thinks he can.”
The Smithsonian, for its part, insists that no government official requested the removal. “We removed it to make way for a more permanent update to the content inside the case,” the institution said in a statement, adding that the previous placard was only meant as a stopgap following the events of January 6, 2021. The museum also denied receiving any presidential instruction to alter the exhibit, emphasizing its “steadfast commitment to scholarship, rigorous research, and the accurate, factual presentation of history.”
But the timing of the changes has drawn scrutiny. The Smithsonian’s Board of Regents had already committed to reviewing its content after pressure from the Trump administration, which has repeatedly called for a more positive framing of the nation’s history in its museums. In March 2025, President Trump issued an executive order accusing the Smithsonian of promoting a “divisive, race-centered ideology” and called for Vice President JD Vance, a member of the Board of Regents, to work with Congress to prohibit exhibitions deemed to “degrade shared American values.”
White House official Lindsey Halligan reiterated that the administration had not intervened in the museum’s process, but added, “It’s encouraging to see the institution taking steps that align with President Trump’s Executive Order to restore truth to American History. As part of that truth, it’s important to note that President Trump was acquitted twice by Senate, fully and on every count — a fact that belongs in the historical record.”
The Smithsonian’s exhibit on the American presidency, which opened in 2000, has always included information about the impeachments of Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, as well as the near-impeachment of Richard Nixon. The addition of Trump’s two impeachments in 2021 was itself a historic update—Trump remains the only American president to have been impeached twice, first in 2019 and again in 2021, and acquitted both times by the Senate.
The updated display also now features new artifacts: admission tickets to the Senate gallery from Trump’s first impeachment proceedings. The main exhibit panel has been rewritten to more fully explain the mechanics of impeachment, a move the Smithsonian says is meant to provide greater context for visitors.
Still, the controversy has not subsided. Some museum-goers expressed relief at seeing Trump’s impeachments represented, but others voiced disappointment at the perceived minimization. Jodi Lindstrom, a visitor from Minneapolis, told The Washington Post, “I don’t think it’s a good idea for the president to have a say over what is history. … You can’t erase it. It’s what happened. So I’m very happy to see it back in.”
Others, like Ed Burk of Washington, D.C., were less satisfied. “Clinton gets a little more attention. Why not something as big for Donald Trump?” he wondered, noting the smaller size and lower placement of the Trump text and artifacts. Mindy Kiser, visiting from Wichita, summed up the ambivalence felt by many: “It’s disappointing to know that the museum may have caved to outside influences but also reassuring to know that they did the right thing and restored whatever they took away. The fact that he’s been impeached twice, it does seem to be a little bit smaller, in my opinion. But in these days, we should just be happy that it’s represented at all.”
Since his return to the White House in January 2025, President Trump has sought to exert greater control over cultural institutions. According to The Washington Post, he has taken steps to influence the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, made changes at the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and imposed budget cuts on the National Park Service. The White House also attempted to fire Kim Sajet, director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, citing partisan captions referencing Trump’s impeachments and the charge of incitement of insurrection. The Smithsonian, however, asserted its authority over personnel decisions, though Sajet ultimately resigned.
The Smithsonian has insisted that its changes are driven by a desire for accuracy and consistency, not political pressure. “At the heart of the Smithsonian’s work is a steadfast commitment to scholarship, rigorous research, and the accurate, factual presentation of history,” the institution said. “We take great care to ensure that what we present to the public reflects both intellectual integrity and thoughtful design.”
As visitors continue to file past the newly updated exhibit, the debate over how history is recorded and displayed in America’s most prestigious museums shows no sign of abating. The Smithsonian’s choices—however carefully worded—remain under the microscope, emblematic of the broader struggle over truth, memory, and the telling of the American story.