White House presses Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery for new portrait, larger exhibit on Trump

The White House has pressed the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery (NPG) to expand its presentation of President Donald Trump by creating a dedicated section with multiple images, rather than the single official portrait typically shown for a sitting president. The idea was discussed during a 19 December 2025 visit by Abby Jones, the acting chief of protocol at the US State Department, and White House photographer Daniel Torok, according to The New York Times; no formal proposal has been submitted, and Smithsonian and NPG spokespersons declined to comment. The request would depart from recent precedent in which the NPG displays a photographic likeness during a president’s term and later replaces it with a commissioned painted portrait after the final term. The article notes that the NPG recently replaced a prior Trump photograph with a black-and-white image by Torok and removed wall text referencing Trump’s two impeachments following objections.

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