Trump Says He's Fired Director of National Portrait Gallery … Over ‘DEI'
President Donald Trump's assault of the Smithsonian Institution and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives continued on Friday. The president announced on Truth Social that he was firing Kim Sajet, the director of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, and accused her of being 'a highly partisan person.'
'Upon the request and recommendation of many people, I am herby terminating the employment of Kim Sajet as Director of the National Portrait Gallery,' Trump wrote in his post. 'She is a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI, which is totally inappropriate for her position. Her replacement will be named shortly.'
Whether the president has the authority to terminate Sajet is unclear, as the gallery runs under the purview of the Smithsonian Institution.
The representative for the National Portrait Gallery or the Smithsonian did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone's request for comment.
According to her biography on the National Portrait Gallery website, Sajet was the first woman to serve as director of the Smithsonian's art museum in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, per the bio, she was the president and CEO of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the vice president and deputy director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the director of corporate relations at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
In February, Trump's appointed himself chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts — leading to a cascade of program and artist cancellations following the news — and a month later, the president announced his executive order to eliminate 'anti-American ideology' from the Smithsonian Institution. Trump ordered that spending on exhibits or programs that 'degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy' would be prohibited and directed Vice President JD Vance to lead the purge within the institution.
The Smithsonian spans 21 museums and, per its website, is the world's largest museum, education and research complex, encompassing 14 education and research centers, and the National Zoo. The National Portrait Gallery currently features an exhibition containing pictures of every US president and concludes with Kehinde Wiley's popular 2018 painting of Barack Obama and a photo of Donald Trump, taken by Matt McClain in 2017. The succinct caption for Trump reads: 'Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials. After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump mounted a historic comeback in the 2024 election. He is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) to have won a nonconsecutive second term.'
When speaking to the Guardian last year, Sajet — a daughter of Dutch immigrants who was born in Nigeria, raised in Australia, and is a citizen of the Netherlands — reflected on her role at the gallery. 'I have a great love for the United States and it's home for me but I do think that there is a real advantage in also being able to stand back,' said Sajet. 'Maybe part of my advantage is to say actually what began in the United States has this ripple effect. Reminding Americans of the tremendous gift that they've given to all of us is always a good thing.'
She added, 'I'm very proud of being at the portrait gallery of the United States because there are such remarkable people that have shifted the needle not just within the US but across the globe.'
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