Trump Fires Portrait Gallery Director Over DEI Support

President Donald Trump fired Kim Sajet, director of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery since 2013, citing her advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and alleged partisanship. Trump announced the dismissal on Truth Social, describing Sajet as 'highly partisan' and her support for DEI as inappropriate for her role. Sajet, a Nigerian-born Dutch citizen raised in Australia, had previously donated to Democratic candidates and promoted programming on racial justice and identity at the gallery. The firing is part of a broader campaign by Trump to reshape leadership in major cultural institutions, including recent replacements at the Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress. The National Portrait Gallery has not commented on the firing. Sajet emphasized the gallery’s commitment to factual history and non-editorialized portrait captions, including for Trump's own portrait.