Dutch director resigns from U.S. National Portrait Gallery after Trump's criticism
Kim Sajet, the Dutch director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., has resigned following public criticism by President Donald Trump over her advocacy for increased representation and fairness in the arts, according to The New York Times.
Sajet, 60, the gallery’s first female director since taking the post in 2013, stepped down after Trump announced his intent to remove her in late May. The Smithsonian—the institution that oversees the gallery—maintains sole legal authority over personnel decisions.
A representative for the Smithsonian confirmed that Sajet resigned but declined to elaborate. Two sources familiar with her decision said Sajet chose to leave instead of remaining in a politically hostile environment.
Trump's criticism focused on Sajet’s vocal commitment to initiatives designed to promote representation of diverse groups, equal access, and inclusive programming in the museum world. In a post on Truth Social, he described her as “a highly partisan person and a strong supporter” of such efforts and said they were “totally inappropriate for her position.” He accused her of advancing a "revisionist movement" that, in his view, skews the portrayal of American history, and called for a replacement who “reflects American values.”
In compiling a list of complaints, the White House referenced her comments at a 2018 race and justice summit, where she said the “portrait of America” had “never been only about meritocracy but also about social access, racial inequality, gender difference, religious preference and political power.”
The Trump administration has escalated pressure on federal cultural institutions. In a recent executive order, the president instructed Vice President JD Vance—who serves on the Smithsonian’s 17-member Board of Regents—to oversee reforms at the institution with congressional backing. The board governs all 21 Smithsonian museums, libraries, research facilities, and the National Zoo, and includes the vice president and chief justice as statutory members.
Though the Smithsonian affirmed this week that it retains full authority over hiring, Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III wrote in an internal memo that the institution must re-examine its policy and staffing practices.
“While the vast majority of our content is rooted in meticulous research and thoughtful analysis of history and facts,” Bunch wrote, “we recognize that, on occasion, some of our work has not aligned with our institutional values of scholarship, even-handedness and nonpartisanship. For that, we must all work to do better.” He also pledged to assess whether policy, procedural, or personnel adjustments are needed.
The Smithsonian receives approximately two-thirds of its one billion U.S. dollars in annual funding from the federal government. Trump has proposed a 12-percent budget cut, which would impact the National Portrait Gallery and other affiliated institutions, including the planned National Museum of the American Latino and the Anacostia Community Museum.
Sajet’s resignation has alarmed leaders in the cultural sector, who view it as a sign of growing political interference in the arts. At the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts—where Trump faced both applause and boos this week during a performance of Les Misérables—the president assumed the role of board chairman and appointed an ally as interim president.
Before leading the National Portrait Gallery, Sajet directed two Australian museums and held senior roles at prominent U.S. institutions, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. At the latter, she helped orchestrate the joint purchase, at a cost of 68 million U.S. dollars, of Thomas Eakins’s painting The Gross Clinic. She later served as president and CEO of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
