Culture wars step up as Trump is removed from gallery of the impeached

Smithsonian accused of remaking the past to suit the president, but says move is temporary

- Edward Helmore

Donald Trump's mission to Make America Great Again takes many forms, but a decision by the Smithsonian Institution to remove him from an impeachment display suggests an expansion in reach from commander-in-chief to curator-in-chief.

It was revealed last week that a reference to Trump's two first-term impeachments had been cut from The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden, an exhibition at the National Museum of American History in Washington.

A spokesperson for the Smithsonian Institution told The Observer that under a review of legacy content "it became clear that the 'Limits of Presidential Power' section in [the] exhibition needed to be addressed".

The museum said that since other topics in a section addressing Congress, the supreme court, impeachment and public opinion had not been updated since 2008, "the decision was made to restore the impeachment case back to its 2008 appearance".

Trump had been added to the display in 2021 after he was impeached for a second time by a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. Trump called the first impeachment an attempted "coup" and the second "yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country".

Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, as well as Richard Nixon - who would have faced impeachment had he not resigned - remain part of the display. No US president has been removed from office under the system.