Tag: National Portrait Gallery

More Matters of Concern

Here are some items I did not have room to include in this morning’s blog post.

Artist cancels showing at Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery

Photo of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC
Photo by Sung Jin Cho on Unsplash

The artist of a 2018 portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama has withdrawn from her schedule showing at the National Portrait Gallery after being told one of her paintings was not acceptable in light of President Trump’s March Executive Order regarding museums.

Amy Sherald’s painting “Trans Forming Liberty” depicts the Statue of Liberty as a transgender woman. After being told she could not include the painting in her show, Sherald informed the secretary of the Smithsonian in writing that, “it has become clear that the conditions no longer support the integrity of the work as conceived.”

This would have been the first National Portrait Gallery’s showing… ever… by a Black contemporary artist.

The Smithsonian is “disappointed,” but not as disappointed as I am about what the Trump Administration is doing to free expression, science, medical research, and the treasure that was the Smithsonian Institution.

Columbia University caved in to Trump

Photo of part of the Columbia University campus in New York City. Photo by Tobias Pfeifer on Unsplash

So it can continue to admit international students and receive federal funds, Columbia University caved in to the bully. Under the guise of being concerned about Jewish students being discriminated against on Columbia’s campus, the Trump Administration strong-armed the university into bending a knee and paying $220 million for alleged violation of U.S. antidiscrimination laws.

In the agreement last Wednesday, Columbia is supposed to get to keep billions of dollars for research grants. Columbia must revise its admissions policies, campus protest policies, and its curriculum.

The university’s acting president, Claire Shipman, says the agreement protects Columbia’s values and autonomy, but it isn’t clear how that is possible with the Trump Administration dictating admissions, protests, and curriculum.

The Trump Administration calls the agreement “a road map for settlements” as it eyes other colleges accused of not addressing antisemitism.

When the students return to camp in September, it will be interesting to see if they are allowed to protest Israel’s bombing of Gaza and starving the Gazans by restricting food aid.

As I recall, that’s what started this whole thing.

And now Trump has turned his sights on the medical and law schools at Duke University. Anything to disrupt medical care and medical research, I guess. Some 600 Duke University staff have taken early retirement buyouts so far.

A reversal from the U.S. Department of Education

This is the first positive thing I’ve been able to report about the U.S. Department of Education since Inauguration Day. After North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson and 19 other state attorneys general and governors sued the U.S. Department of Education for freezing $5.5 billion nationally, the Department Secretary caved! That means North Carolina will get the $165 million it had counted on until the Trump Administration pulled the plug.

U.S. Aid to Gaza

While in Scotland on Sunday, Trump whined for several minutes because nobody thanked the United States for giving $60 million in aid to Gaza. He claimed that no other country had given Gaza anything.

No one wants to see a U.S. President whine. Of course, he also cheated at golf while in Scotland, too. And he bad-mouthed President Biden, the mayor London, and a bunch of other people.

Is Netanyahu delusional or what?

Netanyahu says there is no starvation in Gaza. The whole world sees it. Even U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia admits it is true. It has to be pretty horrific for Marjorie Taylor Green to admit something.

Sadly, the United States is complicit because it continues to support Israel in its war on Gaza. This stopped being “self-defense” a long time ago, Netanyahu. It stopped with the indiscriminate bombing of schools, hospitals, and residential areas. It stopped being self-defense when Israel stopped allowing food and medicine to enter Gaza. The food drop last week was too little, too late – and that’s the nicest thing I can say about it. Israel only did that to try to appease the growing public outcry about the starving children.

Meanwhile, U.S. Representative Randy Fine of Florida, who happens to be Jewish, put this on X on June 2: “Tell your fellow Muslim terrorists to release the hostages and surrender. Until then, #StarveAway.” As far as I can determine, he has not changed his anti-Gaza stance. He would probably say he is just anti-Hamas, but it is the total population of Gaza that is bearing the horrors of this war.

How can someone who is wealthy enough and well enough connected to be elected to the United States Congress and live in the richest country in the world – and probably never missed a meal in his life — have no compassion for starving children?

The level of white privilege and hatred in so many Americans who are in positions of power boggles the mind.

The First Lady Melania Trump Opera House at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Photo of Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Photo by Santeri Liukkonen on Unsplash

Yes, you read that correctly. U.S. Representative Mike Simpson of Idaho is chair of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee. He tucked the provision into the fiscal year 2026 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, which passed the Committee on Appropriations 33 to 28.

The proposal was written into the fiscal year 2026 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. The measure was approved by the Committee on Appropriations with a vote of 33 to 28.

One has to wonder how long it will be before the name “TRUMP” will be plastered on the outside of the building in giant gold letters. How long will it be before the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is painted gold? 

Two Items of Good News

President Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, is not running for the United States Senate from North Carolina in 2026.

Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is running for the United States Senate to fill the seat vacated by Thom Tillis in 2026.

Until my next blog post

I hope you are reading a good book.

Don’t forget the people of Ukraine and western North Carolian.

Janet

Concerns over the Smithsonian on Juneteenth

There are more pressing worries today in the Middle East than what is happening at the Smithsonian Institute, but I am posting this as planned.

I mentioned my concerns about the Smithsonian Institution in my March 31, 2025, blog post, Words Trump wants federal agencies to “limit or avoid”, but like many parts of the US Government that don’t directly affect our lives on a daily basis, the Smithsonian has dropped from the headlines.

Photo of The Castle -- the most iconic building of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC
“The Castle” – the most iconic building of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.
Photo by Sara Cottle on Unsplash

My only other substantive mention of the Smithsonian in my blog since then was on June 3, 2025, when I wrote, “On Friday, Trump fired Kim Sajet, the Director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. She had held the position for 12 years. Her crime, according to Trump was for being ‘a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI.’”

President Trump replaced Ms. Sajet with Lindsey Halligan, Esq.

I have wondered since then what Ms. Halligan is up to, but I’m afraid to ask. Plus, who would I ask? My United States Senators and my US Representative certainly would not know.

Just out of curiosity, I wondered what Lindsey Halligan’s qualifications were for being named Director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. I found most of my answers in The Washington Post’s online article on April 21, 2025: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/she-told-trump-the-smithsonian-needs-changing-he-s-ordered-her-to-do-it/ar-AA1DiUy4.

Photo of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC
The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC
Photo by Sung Jin Cho on Unsplash

On March 27, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” I don’t know about you, but as a student of history, the title alone makes me cringe.

It turns out there is one person mentioned by name in that Executive Order: Lindsey Halligan, Esq.

The Executive Order states that Halligan will consult with Vice President J.D. Vance to “remove improper ideology” from Smithsonian properties. That sounds like she is going to have some say so in more than the National Portraits Gallery.

So, again, what are her qualifications? I ask, because so many of Trump’s appointees have no qualifications for their jobs. You know who they are, and they know who they are.

According to Maura Judkis’s article in The Washington Post, Halligan is a Trump attorney who moved to Washington in January. She visited the Smithsonian museums of Natural History, American History, and American Art and she did not like what she saw.

It seems that she thought the Smithsonian was “weaponizing history.” To me, those words coming from a Trump associate translate into “We don’t want to be reminded that America was never perfect.” Halligan told the newspaper that she reported her concerns to the President.

Poof! She is now consulting with the Vice President to apparently rid the Smithsonian of collections and exhibits that offend her sensitivities.

But how did she get in a position to have such a level of access to and influence over Donald Trump? She competed in the Miss Colorado USA Pageant back in 2009 when Trump co-owned the parent organization of the Miss Universe pageant, for which the state Miss USA pageants is a preliminary event.

Ms. Halligan might be a well-qualified attorney. What she knows about art or portraits was not covered in the newspaper article.

The Smithsonian’s Mission

According to the website for The Smithsonian Institution (https://www.si.edu/), its purpose is: “The increase and diffusion of knowledge.”

The Smithsonian’s stated vision: “Through our unparalleled collections and research capabilities, and the insight and creativity we foster through art, history, and culture, the Smithsonian strives to provide Americans and the world with the tools and information they need to forge Our Shared Future.”

In other words, the Smithsonian Institution is for the whole world. Keep that in mind, as we delve into what Lindsey Halligan did not like when she visited a few of its museums in January.

What is “improper ideology” at the Smithsonian?

More troublesome than Ms. Halligan’s credentials is, “What is considered ‘improper ideology’ for the Smithsonian?”

I will quote two paragraphs from Maura Judkis’s newspaper article:

“During her visits to the museums, Halligan says she saw ‘exhibits that have to do with either another country’s history entirely or art and sculpture that describes on the placards next to it that America and sculpture are inherently racist,’ though she did not offer specific details.

“She says she also saw exhibitions that did not focus on America at all. ‘There’s a lot about other countries’ history that has nothing to do with America, and I think, you know, America is so special,’ she says, adding: ‘We should all be focused on how amazing our country is and how much America has to offer.’”

What happens to the history of slavery in the US?

Today we mark the 160th anniversary of the day that the last black slaves in the state of Texas found out that they were free: June 19, 1865. That’s the day U.S. Army Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas. It is now a recognized holiday known as Juneteenth, a portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth.”

But what is happening to the history of slavery in the United States, when the Trump Administration wants to erase all traces of the unpleasant chapters in our national history?

Photo of a rope around an up held wrist below a fist
Photo by Tasha Jolley on Unsplash

We know certain museum exhibits have been removed from the Smithsonian. What happened to them? Were they thrown in the trash?

We know the Trump Administration doesn’t want any mention of slavery in our children’s history textbooks or any discussion of such things in our classrooms because it might make the white children feel bad. That is absurd, short-sighted, and evil.

Need we know more?

If you want to know more, Ms. Judkis’s article gives many more details, but I think those two paragraphs tell us everything I need to know.

Ms. Halligan’s statements as quoted above are in direct conflict with the stated purpose and vision of the Smithsonian.

I hope when the Trump regime is a distant memory, people who have knowledge of world history and how to operate museums will be able to piece the Smithsonian back together.

Crackdown on ideology to the extreme

It has been reported that there are now signs up (or will be soon) at the National Zoo in Washington, DC instructing visitors to report anything they see that they think is in conflict with the ideology of the US Government.

It is a zoo, people! It. is. a. zoo.

This does not bode well for Bao Li and Qing Bao, the two pandas on loan from China. I hope they will keep their anti-American thoughts to themselves!

Photo of a panda at a zoo
Photo by Harrison Mitchell on Unsplash

If they aren’t careful, Trump will place a tariff on them like he did that island inhabited only by penguins.

You can read more about the Executive Order on the White House website: https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/03/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-restores-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/.

Until my next blog post

Read everything you can get your hands on. Watch a little bit of the news every day.

Learn the history of your country and the world. Your democracy and way of life might depend on that someday. The knowledge of history needs to influence for whom you vote on every level of government.

Do whatever you can to make this world a better place.

Remember the people of Ukraine and eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. I-40 in Cocke County, Tennessee sustained major flooding again yesterday and a new landslide. The interstate highway is closed in both directions near the TN/NC line until damage can be cleaned up and assessed. Motorists must use I-40 to I-81 in TN to I-26 to Asheville, NC to I-40. The Hurricane Helene saga continues. That area just can’t seem to get a break as we approach ten months since the hurricane.

Janet