President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social account Friday that he is firing Kim Sajet, the Director of the National Portrait Gallery.
“Upon the request and recommendation of many people, I am hereby terminating the employment of Kim Sajet as Director of the National Portrait Gallery,” Trump wrote. “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.”
In a 2015 profile in the Washington Post, Sajet said she received criticism that the Smithsonian did not feature enough women and African American artists.
“Where are all the women and African Americans?” Sajet said. “We can’t correct the ills of history. Women and men and women of color — their portraits weren’t taken. How are we going to show the presence of absence?”
The Post said Sajet has focused on making the Portrait Gallery more inclusive by acquiring works representing diverse artists and subjects and by incorporating Spanish into the overall communications strategy.
Born in Nigeria, Sajet was raised in Australia, moving to the United States with her family in 1997. She was appointed director in 2013 under President Barack Obama and became the first woman to serve in the role.
Sajet previously served as vice president and deputy director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the director of corporate relations at the Philadelphia Museum of Arts.
The National Portrait Gallery has 80 employees and 26,000 works of art.
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