Donald Trump asked the Smithsonian Institution to instal a 30-feet ‘colossus statue’ of George Washington outside the National Museum of American History, and a special exhibit honouring the nation’s first president, in a social media post.
The president requested that the exhibit continue through February 2032, the 300th anniversary of Washington’s birth.
“He is easily America’s greatest hero. Without him, our country and our freedoms wouldn’t exist,” Trump posted on Truth Social as he flew to his golf course in Ireland.
The statue of Washington would replace the current Infinity sculpture by New York artist José de Rivera, commissioned by the federal government and installed in 1967.
Trump’s latest request underscores a perception that he sees himself as curator-in-chief of the nation’s national museum. His administration issued a 162-page report in March 2025 accusing the museum of focusing too much on oppression, social justice and division rather than shared national achievements, the UK’s The Guardian newspaper reported.
In July, Trump ordered the interior department to display signs in front of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History that accuse the institution of inaccuracy.
The order declared signs outside the National Museum of American History ‘shall notify visitors that the museum exhibits should be renovated consistent with the findings in the report’. Those signs have yet to appear.
In Friday’s post, Trump complained that the Smithsonian currently doesn’t mention Washington’s fabled crossing of the Delaware River during the Revolutionary War, which he called ‘one of the greatest moments and turning points of the Revolution.’
Nor, he said, was Washington’s victory at Trenton mentioned. “Stories of the Americans who fought and died for our Independence, deserve far more attention,” he wrote.
Instead of a Centre for Restorative History – a recently ended museum initiative to spotlight stories that have been excluded from the national historical narrative – Trump said the museum should have a ‘Centre for American Heroes.’
But it is not clear that Trump has the power to order the museum to make the change. The Smithsonian operates outside the executive branch and its leadership is overseen by a board of regents that includes JD Vance, Chief Justice John Roberts, a bipartisan group of legislators and a group of citizens.
Last week, the Smithsonian’s secretary Lonnie Bunch announced he will step down by the end of the year, after seven years leading the institution.
“We’re at a time when people are challenging that independence,” Bunch earlier told the Washington Post. “But I feel very strongly that it is as independent as we were before, and that I will continue to fight – for as long as I’m in this chair – for the independence of the Smithsonian.”
The administration appears to be expanding its reach into arts and culture. For Constitution Day on September 17, Trump asked the Smithsonian to instal the 11ft statue of Washington featured at the recent Freedom 250 IndyCar race in the museum’s Flag Hall.
The board of the Kennedy Centre, comprised largely of Trump appointees, recently removed Blue, a sculpture by the late New York artist Joel Shapiro, which had been on the grounds of the centre since 2019.
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