Democratic Congressman Jonathan Jackson of Illinois called President Trump’s proposed changes to the Smithsonian Institution and ongoing renovations of Washington, DC landmarks “an act of violence” during a Thursday press conference, drawing immediate attention for the comparison.
Jackson grouped the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and planned signage at the National Museum of American History alongside U.S. military operations in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, as well as ICE enforcement actions, framing all of them under the same label.
Jackson’s ‘Violence on the Buildings’ Remarks
Jackson made the comments alongside Reps. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) and Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), as well as American Historical Association executive director Sarah Weicksel. The group gathered to announce new legislation called the “Smithsonian Integrity Act,” which would block the Trump administration from removing what supporters describe as politically motivated or revisionist exhibits from the National Museum of American History.
“The president’s proclivity, his inclination in this administration is towards violence,” Jackson said at the event. He then added, “You’ve seen the violence on the buildings of the East Wing,” referring to Trump’s renovation projects before broadening his argument. “He’s done this now with the Strait of Hormuz, he’s done this in the Red Sea, he’s gone into Nigeria, he’s gone into the boat taps. I mean, so yes, he’s put violence on the streets. He’s killed people through the ICE agency in Minnesota, and we’re saying that this is an act of violence, of going into the museum and trying to replace truth with lies.”
Trump’s Smithsonian Plans and the White House Report
The press conference came as the Trump administration moves ahead with plans to install temporary signage outside the National Museum of American History. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum informed Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) of the plan in a letter, writing that “the informational signage will provide visitors with important context about the exhibits they are about to encounter and the personal viewpoints that the curators of the exhibits are seeking to advance.”
The White House previously released a 162-page report alleging that the Smithsonian has rewritten history “as a political instrument to divide, dispirit, and discourage our citizens.” The report identified what it characterized as ideologically driven content throughout several museum exhibits.
Stansbury’s Remarks and What Comes Next
Stansbury also drew notice for her comments when reporters asked whether Democrats were concerned Trump might act during Congress’s recess. “I think that Donald Trump has demonstrated over and over again that when he is left unsupervised as a lonely, bitter, and, frankly, potentially mentally compromised individual, that he is completely unpredictable, and so we don’t know what he was capable of,” she said.
The Smithsonian Integrity Act now heads to the legislative process, though its prospects in a Republican-controlled Congress remain uncertain. The Trump administration has not indicated it will pause its museum review or the planned installation of contextual signage at the National Museum of American History.
