Trump Said He Fired the National Portrait Gallery Director. She’s Still There. The museum director targeted in a social media post by President Donald Trump still holds her position, according to the Smithsonian Institution. Kriston CappsJune 6, 2025 at 3:10 AM GMT+7 Kim Sajet is still doing her job as director of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, although President Donald Trump said she was fired on Friday. Photographer: Shannon Finney/Getty Images North America On Friday, President Donald Trump took to social media to fire Kim Sajet, the director of the National Portrait Gallery, creating a firestorm of controversy at the Smithsonian Institution and beyond. Describing her as a “highly partisan person” and “strong supporter of DEI,” Trump posted on May 30 on Truth Social that he had removed Sajet from her role at the portraiture museum in downtown Washington, DC. The post indicated that her replacement would be named shortly. As of June 5, though, Sajet is still reporting to work, a spokesperson for the Smithsonian confirmed. The stakes for any decision are high: If the president succeeds in firing Sajet, Trump will have exerted control over staffing decisions for the Smithsonian, which is not part of the executive branch, potentially gaining sweeping powers over its 21 museums. Leaders at America’s cultural treasury are entrenched in a closely held debate about what to do next, as the president seeks to assume authority over the Smithsonian using both budget pressure and blunt force. Democratic lawmakers have argued that Trump did not have the authority to fire Sajet because the Smithsonian is independent from the White House. When Congress first authorized the Smithsonian in 1846, it delegated authority over the institution, which is structured as a trust instrumentality, to a board of regents. The board’s 17 members include the vice president of the US, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, members of both the House and Senate and US citizens appointed by Congress. Members of this board assembled on June 2 for an emergency meeting. The only agenda item: “confidential personnel matters.” At the same time, the White House has significant say over the federal funds on which the Smithsonian relies for much of its budget. A photo of President Donald Trump displayed in the America's Presidents exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery on June 1, 2025.Photographer: Kevin Carter/Getty Images North America The White House has meanwhile drafted a laundry list of complaints about Sajet, compiling pages of quotes she’s given over the years about the ways that portraiture reflects society. Chief among the listed complaints are Sajet’s doctorate in “Liberal Studies” from Georgetown University, her political donations — she’s given $3,982.40 to various Democratic officials and liberal causes, including Joe Biden’s presidential campaign — and the caption that hangs below the portrait of Trump on view at the Portrait Gallery. “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials,” the caption reads. “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 term.” The president signed an executive order in March targeting the Smithsonian for its “divisive, race-centered ideology” and pledging that Vice President JD Vance, as regent, would be responsible for changing the culture. The March 27 order mentioned two museums by name — the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture — detailing a sculpture exhibit and historic materials that the administration finds objectionable. The same day that Trump posted on Truth Social, the White House told the Smithsonian that the president’s budget request to Congress slashed the Smithsonian’s funding by $131.2 million — a 12% reduction from FY 2025 levels, according to an email from Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III to staff obtained by Bloomberg CityLab. The budget also zeroes out funding for the Anacostia Community Museum, an urban arts center located in DC’s Ward 8 neighborhood, which will be rolled up into the National Museum of African American History and Culture if the budget passes. A forthcoming National Museum of the American Latino would be eliminated entirely, as first reported by The Washington Post. Bunch’s email described the current budget as “one of the most challenging financial moments in the Institution's history.” Neither the Castle nor the Portrait Gallery has issued any formal statement about Trump’s post. The board meets for its next regularly scheduled meeting on June 9. (A spokesperson for Vance didn’t respond to questions about his attendance this week or next.) Trump’s post came as a shock to museum directors and other senior leaders, according to staffers, in part because the Portrait Gallery has so rarely been a site of controversy. One of the museum’s wings is devoted to a gallery of portraits of American presidents, including Gilbert Stuart’s 1796 “Lansdowne” portrait of George Washington. The Portrait Gallery’s paintings of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama drew massive crowds in 2018 and traveled on tour to museums in seven cities. The Portrait Gallery’s programming has grown more adventurous over the years, however. In 2010, an exhibit featuring LGBTQ artworks drew the ire of conservative media, setting off a rare scandal after Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough removed a video work by artist David Wojnarowicz that included a depiction of a crucifix. Under Sajet, who joined the museum in 2013, the Portrait Gallery has mounted exhibits by Ken Gonzales-Day, Titus Kaphar and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, artists who challenge the traditional boundaries of portraiture in terms of both its form and content. Portraiture in America, Sajet said at the Atlantic Festival in 2018, “has never been only about meritocracy but also social access, racial inequality, gender difference, religious preference and political power” — comments that were recirculated by the White House this week. Trump pays close attention to his official likenesses: In March he complained that a portrait of himself hanging in the state capitol in Colorado was unflattering, prompting the legislature to remove it. And on June 2, just days after he posted the notice about Sajet, the White House unveiled a new official presidential portrait.
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Trump Said He Fired the National Portrait Gallery Director. She’s Still There.
The museum director targeted in a social media post by President Donald Trump still holds her position, according to the Smithsonian Institution.

Kriston CappsJune 6, 2025 at 3:10 AM GMT+7
Kim Sajet is still doing her job as director of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, although President Donald Trump said she was fired on Friday.
Photographer: Shannon Finney/Getty Images North America
On Friday, President Donald Trump took to social media to fire Kim Sajet, the director of the National Portrait Gallery, creating a firestorm of controversy at the Smithsonian Institution and beyond.

Describing her as a “highly partisan person” and “strong supporter of DEI,” Trump posted on May 30 on Truth Social that he had removed Sajet from her role at the portraiture museum in downtown Washington, DC. The post indicated that her replacement would be named shortly.

As of June 5, though, Sajet is still reporting to work, a spokesperson for the Smithsonian confirmed.

The stakes for any decision are high: If the president succeeds in firing Sajet, Trump will have exerted control over staffing decisions for the Smithsonian, which is not part of the executive branch, potentially gaining sweeping powers over its 21 museums. Leaders at America’s cultural treasury are entrenched in a closely held debate about what to do next, as the president seeks to assume authority over the Smithsonian using both budget pressure and blunt force.

Democratic lawmakers have argued that Trump did not have the authority to fire Sajet because the Smithsonian is independent from the White House. When Congress first authorized the Smithsonian in 1846, it delegated authority over the institution, which is structured as a trust instrumentality, to a board of regents. The board’s 17 members include the vice president of the US, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, members of both the House and Senate and US citizens appointed by Congress. Members of this board assembled on June 2 for an emergency meeting. The only agenda item: “confidential personnel matters.”

At the same time, the White House has significant say over the federal funds on which the Smithsonian relies for much of its budget.

A photo of President Donald Trump displayed in the America's Presidents exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery on June 1, 2025.Photographer: Kevin Carter/Getty Images North America
The White House has meanwhile drafted a laundry list of complaints about Sajet, compiling pages of quotes she’s given over the years about the ways that portraiture reflects society. Chief among the listed complaints are Sajet’s doctorate in “Liberal Studies” from Georgetown University, her political donations — she’s given $3,982.40 to various Democratic officials and liberal causes, including Joe Biden’s presidential campaign — and the caption that hangs below the portrait of Trump on view at the Portrait Gallery.

“Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials,” the caption reads. “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 term.”

The president signed an executive order in March targeting the Smithsonian for its “divisive, race-centered ideology” and pledging that Vice President JD Vance, as regent, would be responsible for changing the culture. The March 27 order mentioned two museums by name — the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture — detailing a sculpture exhibit and historic materials that the administration finds objectionable.

The same day that Trump posted on Truth Social, the White House told the Smithsonian that the president’s budget request to Congress slashed the Smithsonian’s funding by $131.2 million — a 12% reduction from FY 2025 levels, according to an email from Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III to staff obtained by Bloomberg CityLab.

The budget also zeroes out funding for the Anacostia Community Museum, an urban arts center located in DC’s Ward 8 neighborhood, which will be rolled up into the National Museum of African American History and Culture if the budget passes. A forthcoming National Museum of the American Latino would be eliminated entirely, as first reported by The Washington Post. Bunch’s email described the current budget as “one of the most challenging financial moments in the Institution's history.”

Neither the Castle nor the Portrait Gallery has issued any formal statement about Trump’s post. The board meets for its next regularly scheduled meeting on June 9. (A spokesperson for Vance didn’t respond to questions about his attendance this week or next.)

Trump’s post came as a shock to museum directors and other senior leaders, according to staffers, in part because the Portrait Gallery has so rarely been a site of controversy. One of the museum’s wings is devoted to a gallery of portraits of American presidents, including Gilbert Stuart’s 1796 “Lansdowne” portrait of George Washington. The Portrait Gallery’s paintings of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama drew massive crowds in 2018 and traveled on tour to museums in seven cities.

The Portrait Gallery’s programming has grown more adventurous over the years, however. In 2010, an exhibit featuring LGBTQ artworks drew the ire of conservative media, setting off a rare scandal after Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough removed a video work by artist David Wojnarowicz that included a depiction of a crucifix. Under Sajet, who joined the museum in 2013, the Portrait Gallery has mounted exhibits by Ken Gonzales-Day, Titus Kaphar and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, artists who challenge the traditional boundaries of portraiture in terms of both its form and content.

Portraiture in America, Sajet said at the Atlantic Festival in 2018, “has never been only about meritocracy but also social access, racial inequality, gender difference, religious preference and political power” — comments that were recirculated by the White House this week.

Trump pays close attention to his official likenesses: In March he complained that a portrait of himself hanging in the state capitol in Colorado was unflattering, prompting the legislature to remove it. And on June 2, just days after he posted the notice about Sajet, the White House unveiled a new official presidential portrait.