The Sound of Music on Trump’s attempt to steal the election
The Smithsonian is one of the premier educational and cultural institutions in the country and the world. When it is in the news it usually because of a donation it received either in money or an object. It conducts symposia on important cultural and historical objects. The Smithsonian museums are annually visited by millions of people. It publishes a popular magazine (I am a subscriber).
However when it has been in the news lately it has been for an entirely different reason. Our immature child president who lacks the mental necessities to connect the dots has declared himself to be Chief Historian of the United States just as he recently became the Chief Cultural director of the John F. Kennedy Cultural Center.
As chief historian, he has set about reviewing the exhibits of the Smithsonian to ensure that every line on display or on the web is in agreement with his view of American history. Thus the simple-minded person is working to impose his view of American history on the Smithsonian just as he has done with the National Park Service and with the funding of large and small historical and cultural organizations throughout the land.
Naturally, the history and museum community has resisted these efforts. As a member of multiple history and museum organizations, I have been the recipient of multiple proclamations on behalf of historical integrity. So far these have been to no avail. Trump is no more interested in historical integrity than he is in voter integrity.
PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY
One item which has been overlooked in all the attention directed against existing organizations has been the ignoring of the meaning for the not-yet-built or planned presidential library. He knows that he is not going to run in 2028. He knows that if the Democrats prevail in the 2026 elections that he will be impeached in 2027 and it may stretch out to 2028. He knows that if the Democrats prevail in the Senate in the 2026 elections that he may be removed from office in 2027 or 2028.
VANCE 2027 or 2028
He knows that if some MAGA Senators revert to being Republicans after the 2026 elections making his conviction and removal even more likely. This would make the Republican presidential convention wide-open with Vance and Rubio as the leading candidates at this point.
This means he is starting to think more about the Presidential Library than he has in the past … especially if his health is deteriorating.
The issue for historians is what will be included in his Presidential Library and what will be omitted. Traditionally, the Library has served two purposes. First it exists as a tourist site where Americans can visit and see exhibits much as they do at the Smithsonian right now. Second it functions as a resource center for scholars. It holds conferences and symposia. It awards fellowships. It makes available to scholars who are writing biographies, about American history, or about world history, information, especially primary source documents, that the scholars 0need to write these histories.
Given what we have been seeing at the Smithsonian, the National Park Service, and the funding to individuals, colleges, and history organizations, what should we expect from his Presidential Library? What rooms and exhibits will be dedicated to the following?
The business failure room
The first impeachment room
The second impeachment room
The third impeachment (and possible removal) room
The retribution room and politicization of the Department of Justice
The worst cabinet in American history room
The Epstein room for all his sexual escapades
The fire the messenger room
The Immaturity room for his social media and public speaking expressions that reveal him to be an immature child with the emotional maturity of a 3-year old – this includes the mean and nasty room for his seventh-grade smart-alec-dumb-alec sayings
The moron room displaying all the examples of his expressions of ignorance about American and global history and politics
The dishonesty room for when he knows the truth (how many rooms in the apartment or floors in the building, his golf scores, his grades, his health…) but doesn’t say it
The military campaign room covering his campaigns from Lafayette Park to Los Angeles to Washington DC., to Chicago to who knows where else
The extortion or shake-down room for all the extortions against universities, businesses, and law firms
The grift room for all the money he made in the private sector by exploiting his position in the public sector
The flying monkey room for all the people who assisted his effort to steal the election in 2020 and who keep saying the election was stolen
The unqualified room for all the appointments as judges and/or attorneys of people who never should have been considered
The rewrite history room for his attempt to steal the 2026 election and to prevent the Democrats from ever winning again.
I am sure that there are other rooms which can be considered but I think the point is clear. If you are a scholar conducting research into the presidency or life of Donald Trump, how useful will his Presidential Library be? Where will this information be available in an accessible format?
This is why I have repeatedly call for the need to build the Unpresidential Library. This library would serve as a repository for all the information Trump chooses to exclude from his official library. I have suggested the Solow property of the East Side of Manhattan south of the United Nations. With Solow’s death, I don’t know what the status of the property is. The Unpresidential Library could be built elsewhere.
Now is the time to establish an Unpresidential Library commission highlighting everything that will be omitted in the official one. Unfortunately the Democrats are a party of no brains, no vision, and no war room who will let this opportunity pass.
