Trump administration officials have suggested that the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery create a section in the museum to display multiple images of the president in addition to his official portrait.
The concept initially came up during a Dec. 19 tour of the museum that included Abby Jones, the acting chief of protocol at the State Department, and the White House photographer, Daniel Torok, according to three people familiar with the discussions. They said the administration officials noted that the White House often received artworks of Mr. Trump created by Americans that could make for a display in a corner of the museum.
Ms. Jones is taking an increasing role in presenting the president’s viewpoint on what he sees as necessary changes in Smithsonian content.
Though the museum has displayed multiple depictions of other presidents, such as Washington, Lincoln and Kennedy, in what is known as the “America’s Presidents” exhibition, those images were typically placed after the men left office.
White House officials declined to comment on any discussions with the Smithsonian. But they released a statement that said: “President Trump receives an unprecedented amount of beautiful artwork from patriotic Americans all across our great country, and it is important to the People’s President that their creations are showcased throughout the halls of our Nation’s Capital.”
A spokeswoman for the National Portrait Gallery declined to comment, and it was unclear to what extent the idea of adding more images of Mr. Trump remains under consideration. The Smithsonian has not received a formal proposal as yet, said two people familiar with the discussions.
Last month, the Portrait Gallery agreed to replace a photo of the president that served as his official portrait with another photo that he preferred. At the same time, the museum removed wall text that referred to his two impeachments — language that had upset the White House.
The Portrait Gallery said in a statement at the time that the replacement was part of a planned update of the “America’s Presidents” exhibition and that it was exploring the concept of wall labels that held more limited information.
“The history of presidential impeachments continues to be represented in our museums,” the statement said.
The president’s interactions with the Smithsonian, which asserts that it operates outside the purview of the executive branch, have been contentious since Mr. Trump took office for his second term last year. He has said he finds some of the content put forward by the Smithsonian’s museums, including the National Portrait Gallery, overly negative and ideologically biased.
The White House has demanded that the Smithsonian submit volumes of information about its content, plans and finances and threatened the loss of federal funds if the request was not complied with.
The portrait gallery has been a consistent point of scrutiny, and Mr. Trump announced last year that he was firing the gallery’s director, Kim Sajet. White House officials cited a list of grievances that included the language about the impeachments that had been in the wall text of what was then his official portrait.
Smithsonian officials responded by restating their autonomy on personnel matters, but Ms. Sajet resigned anyway, saying it was in the best interests of the institution.
Recent sitting presidents have had their photographs installed in the gallery during their terms. Since the mid-1990s, the gallery has also commissioned painted portraits to replace those photographs after the president leaves office. These portraits are later unveiled and hung for public viewing.
In asking for multiple images of Mr. Trump to appear in the portrait gallery now, White House officials are continuing a trend that has seen the president take bold steps to stamp his identity on Washington. Most notable has been the addition of his name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which was built as a memorial to the slain president.
But Mr. Trump’s interest in promoting himself as a brand can also be seen in the creation of Trump Accounts, savings vehicles for children; TrumpRx, a program for discount drugs; and “Trump-class battleships.”
Like all presidents since George H.W. Bush, Mr. Trump was the subject of a painted portrait commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery during his first term in office. But the portrait by Ronald Sherr, who died in 2022, was never unveiled to the public.
A spokeswoman for the museum said: “Traditionally, the museum doesn’t unveil or display its presidential commissions until the end of a president’s final term in office or after they leave office.”
The portrait currently inside the “America’s Presidents” exhibition features Mr. Trump with his fists on the Resolute Desk that sits in the Oval Office; it’s a black-and-white photograph by Mr. Torok.
Zachary Small is a Times reporter writing about the art world’s relationship to money, politics and technology.
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