President Trump Fires National Portrait Gallery Director Over DEI Bias

President Donald J. Trump has dismissed National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet, citing her overt embrace of divisive identity politics and unwavering support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives—ideologies his administration has declared incompatible with federal leadership roles.

“Upon the request and recommendation of many people, I am hereby terminating the employment of Kim Sajet as Director of the National Portrait Gallery. She is a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI, which is totally inappropriate for her position. Her replacement will be named shortly. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” President Trump announced on Truth Social.

The decision follows mounting concerns from officials and conservative cultural leaders over the gallery's political slant under Sajet’s leadership—particularly surrounding its handling of President Trump’s own presidential portrait.

The portrait's caption, curated during Sajet’s tenure, made reference to partisan narratives: “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials. After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump mounted a historic comeback in the 2024 election. He is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) to have won a nonconsecutive second term.”

White House officials highlighted the glaring contradiction between Sajet’s claim that the gallery does not “editorialize” and her direct participation in promoting ideological messaging. “We try very much not to editorialize. I don’t want by reading the label to get a sense of what the curator’s opinion is about that person,” Sajet previously said. “I want someone reading the label to understand that it’s based on historical fact.”

However, Sajet’s record tells a different story.

In a November 4 address at the National Portrait Museum’s Richardson Symposium, Sajet admitted her focus was squarely on identity politics. “America has never been able to separate a person’s appearance from their potential,” she said. “Our history is filled, and continues to be, with examples of hatred, discrimination, fear, and alienation.”

During the same speech, Sajet described a personal “epiphany” upon seeing the famous “Blue Marble” photo taken during the 1972 Apollo 17 mission. She lamented how far the country has supposedly fallen since that moment of unity, saying today’s America lives in the “terrifying wake of the most uncivil, mistrustful, racially insensitive, sexually exploitative, factually untruthful, digitally manipulated, secretive, and inflammatory election of the modern era.”

Sajet went further in defending radical activist content within the Smithsonian’s walls, arguing that identity politics are central to the gallery’s mission. She defended leaving up portraits of controversial figures like Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger and hailed the inclusion of Sylvia Rivera, a transgender activist, as examples of the institution’s ideological stance.

Her dismissal comes on the heels of President Trump’s executive order, signed on January 20, eliminating all DEI-related programs across the federal government.

Sajet is not the only cultural figure removed under the President’s new direction. Just weeks earlier, Shira Perlmutter, head of the U.S. Copyright Office, was terminated after receiving notice from the White House that her tenure had ended “effective immediately.”

That move came shortly after the ousting of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, a progressive Obama-era appointee whose resistance to President Trump’s agenda had made her a target for replacement. The administration is undertaking a deliberate reshaping of federal leadership to ensure public institutions reflect constitutional values, historical integrity, and national pride—not progressive ideology.