Trump asks Smithsonian to install George Washington statues, launch special exhibit

WASHINGTON, DC: President Trump has called on the Smithsonian Institution to put up a giant statue of George Washington outside the National Museum of American History and to hold a special exhibition honoring the nation's first president. He posted his request on social media Friday night, as he was on his way to his golf resort in Ireland.

The president requested that the exhibit open this year and run through Feb 22, 2032, the 300th anniversary of Washington's birth.

Unclear authority over Smithsonian decisions

For Constitution Day on Sept 17, Trump asked the institution to install the 11-foot statue of Washington featured at the recent Freedom 250 IndyCar race in the museum's Flag Hall.

He also wanted a 30-foot statue of Washington to replace the current “Infinity” sculpture by New York artist Jose de Rivera, commissioned by the federal government and installed in 1967.

“He is easily America’s Greatest Hero. Without him, our Country and our Freedoms wouldn’t exist,” Trump wrote on Truth Social as he flew to his golf course in Ireland.

He complained that the museum currently doesn't mention Washington's fabled crossing of the Delaware River during the Revolutionary War.

He said, "Immediately design and display a five-year exhibition worthy of the Life, Sacrifice, and Contributions of George Washington. Then, as soon as it is ready, install a 30-foot Washington Colossus where “Infinity” stands today."

Instead of a Center 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 “Center for American Heroes.”

Part of a broader pattern

Trump has threatened to intervene in the Smithsonian before, but he's clearly escalated since the start of this year, when he placed an executive order in March that would cut funding to programs that supported "divisive narratives" and "improper ideology".

The White House also published a long report this year that criticized the foundation for not paying enough attention to Washington and other founding fathers.

In July, Trump ordered his people to put up signs outside the National Museum of American History to show that certain exhibitions were misleading, which would change the way the people saw the country's history. The head of the museum, Lonnie Bunch, announced this week that he would resign at the end of this year.

Statues have also been a hallmark of Trump’s numerous endeavors to reshape Washington, as he seeks to erect one in his revamped Rose Garden patio and has proposed a park along the Potomac River to showcase statues of 250 prominent Americans.