Kim Sajet, the Smithsonian director targeted by Trump

In May 2025, US President Donald Trump announced that he'd fired Kim Sajet, then Director of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, describing her as 'a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI'. Trump did not have the power to sack her, but Sajet decided to depart anyway. The White House continues to attack public museums and galleries deemed too 'woke' or unpatriotic in their displays of history. Sajet is in Australia to speak on the subject of courageous museum leadership in the age of culture wars.

Guest:

Kim Sajet, art historian and director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, former director of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian

Kim is in Sydney for the International Congress of Maritime Museums, hosted by the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney. Her speech is titled Courageous Leadership: Museums in the Age of Culture Wars