Trump’s PAC-funded Smithsonian portrait remains on track — despite jailhouse mugshot

WASHINGTON — On Thursday, former President Donald Trump got a new mugshot.

His official presidential portrait, destined for a Smithsonian Institution museum, remains on track, too, Raw Story has learned.

An official for the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery confirmed to Raw Story that Trump’s litany of felony charges has not altered the museum’s plans to facilitate, unveil and display official portraits for Trump and former first lady Melania Trump.

Also unchanged: The portraits are primarily funded by a $650,000 “charitable contribution” from Trump-tied political committee Save America PAC, which a federal grand jury is investigating for fundraising off false assertions that widespread voter fraud invalidated the 2020 election.

RELATED ARTICLE: Trump PAC lauded by Smithsonian for its 'generous support': government documents

Save America PAC has meanwhile served as Trump’s chief fundraising vehicle to cover tens of millions of dollars in legal fees associated with his criminal defense. Trump is now grappling with 91 felony counts across four separate cases — two in Washington, one in New York City and one in Fulton County, Ga. Trump on Thursday posted $200,000 bail after his formal booking on 13 counts related to his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

“Nothing has changed in that regard since you last reported on the matter,” said National Portrait Gallery spokesperson Concetta Duncan, adding that there is still “no set time” for the official unveiling of Trump’s portrait.

In May, Raw Story revealed that Smithsonian officials lauded Save America PAC for its “generous support” and, because they were “grateful,” promised Trump officials perks in exchange for the PAC’s money.

ALSO READ: 'A little too close for comfort': Why did the National Archives disappear this Trump photo?

"To recognize this generous support, the Smithsonian will recognize Save America on the object labels that will be displayed alongside the portraits when they are on exhibition and alongside images of the portraits on the NPG website," National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet and Assistant Secretary for Advancement Robert J. Spiller wrote on May 11 to Save America PAC treasurer Bradley Crate, according to a letter obtained by Raw Story through a Freedom of Information Act request.

"In addition, Save America will be recognized in the commemorative program for, and remarks delivered at, the unveiling ceremony and provided with invitations and reserved seating for 10 guests to attend the event,” the letter to Crate continues.

The letter further states that Save America will have the "opportunity to arrange a private viewing of the portraits for up to five guests." Save America PAC would also be honored in the text of the Smithsonian's annual report.

The letter did note that Save America PAC would not be allowed to use the Smithsonian and National Portrait Gallery logos and other branding in the PAC's "products" or "product packaging," or in "advertising, promotion, publicity, or fund-raising" without Smithsonian approval.

"Just an update that we're seeing tons of angry tweets about the Trump portrait, from small and huge accounts," Smithsonian social media official Erin Blasco wrote to several colleagues. "People do not seem to understand, of course, that we have portraits of all the presidents. They're upset that we're getting a Trump portrait but also there are plenty of people upset that this counts as a 'donation,' especially since their fundraising practices have been criticized."

Among the tweets Smithsonian officials shared with each other, per their emails:

"Nice to see that @smithsonian is in bed with a Nazi pedophile wanna-be tyrant. Donation or bribe ?"

"This is f*cking infuriating."

"This is not how museums are supposed to work."

"Why would the Smithsonian even hang anything with that treasonous pig? Unless the exhibit talks about the crimes, abuse of power, and a portrait of Narcissism!"

"It's disturbing to hear that the Smithsonian is accepting so much money from Trump's Save America PAC, which has been using what Business Insider calls 'aggressive and deceptive' solicitations to squeeze money from the faithful."

The National Portrait Gallery houses a complete collection of presidential portraits.

Smithsonian officials have, however, declined to release the names of the artists who are slated to paint the Trumps’ portraits.

"Two different artists. Again, we really don’t want to get into the names," Duncan advised colleagues in an Aug. 22, 2022, email.

"We are not sharing any information about the artists at this time," National Portrait Gallery Director of Advancement Usha Subramanian emphasized in another email the same day.


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Frequent CNN analyst Julie Roginsky unloaded on the network for allowing Scott Jennings, it's in-house pro-Trump conservative commentator, to be rude to his opponents while engaging in bad-faith arguments during his appearances.

Along the way, Roginsky noted that his abusive treatment of women without penalty has given rise to a belief among some outside female analysts that they have been blackballed for criticizing him.

On her Substack, Roginsky wrote that she likely will be “banned from CNN’s airwaves” for going public and making her case against Jennings, whom she called an “insecure little boy.”

Jennings landed his spot on the network as a GOP insider with close ties to former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and, having once been a mild critic of Donald Trump, now toes the MAGA line.

According to Roginsky, Jennings has been given free rein to glibly spout falsehoods while smirking for the camera.

Noting that Jennings is not problematic because he is a Republican, she said, “The problem is how he behaves, what he contributes, and what his presence signals about what CNN now tolerates.”

Complaining that Jennings does not debate, she insisted, "He blathers. He talks over women with particular frequency, interrupts relentlessly, and treats panel discussions as contests of volume and obstinacy, rather than as exchanges of ideas. He mugs to the camera and rolls his eyes, while calling any fact he does not like a lie. It is performative obstruction — the cable news equivalent of flipping the board when you’re losing the game,” she accused.

Roginsky focused on the conservative pundit's treatment of female panelists, which she claims has not gone unnoticed.

“Jennings has cultivated a reputation — not just among viewers, but among female guests — for being rude, dismissive, and antagonistic in ways that feel personal rather than substantive. His dynamic is familiar: interrupt, sneer, accuse, repeat. If challenged successfully, escalate the aggression,” she observed before claiming, “CNN executives know this. They see the segments and receive the feedback. They understand the pattern. And yet, the network continues to book him, elevate him, and protect him.”

She added, “Several women who have appeared on CNN panels have spoken privately about how they are suddenly never invited back after embarrassing him on air.”

Making it personal, she wrote, “Jennings is also an insecure little boy, the kind of teenager who sat home alone on a Saturday night cutting and pasting photographs of himself alongside girls who would never give him the time of day to make it appear that he had a robust social life. That is essentially what he does every time he goes on air. He selectively edits clips to make it look like he ‘owned’ whomever he was debating, too chickens—t to post the whole segment that would expose the truth. Aside from his collection of mouth-breathing Twitter acolytes, no one buys it.”

Taking aim at the network, she asked, “CNN should ask itself a simple question: what is Scott Jennings adding that could not be accomplished by any number of conservative analysts who are capable of making arguments without bad faith theatrics?”

“Every time CNN allows a panel to devolve into Jennings shouting over his colleagues and guests, it trades credibility for clicks. Every time it lets misleading claims slide in the name of “balance,” it trains viewers not to trust what they’re seeing. And every time it tolerates conduct that makes guests — especially women — feel disrespected, it reinforces the perception that the network values spectacle over professionalism,” she warned.

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Nick Anderson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist.

CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten was left floored Monday after new polling revealed that voters have “completely flipped” on Trump’s immigration policy, formally among his best-performing acts.

“These numbers have just completely flipped – this was such a strength for the president, the net approval rating on [the] Trump administration's program to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally, it was plus 18 points at the beginning of his presidency,” Enten said. “That is very, very positive, it was one of the most popular things in the Trump administration's agenda.”

Fast forward to January, however, and Trump’s net approval rating on his deportation policy plummeted from plus 18 points to minus 8, according to new CNN polling.

“That's an over 25-point switcheroo in the negative direction,” Enten exclaimed. “Now the program is way, way underwater at minus 8 points. And among independents, it has gone from plus 18 points in the positive all the way down to negative 20 points!”

The new polling also found that 56% of Americans now say Trump is not prioritizing "dangerous criminals,” as his administration said it would in its mass deportations. That's up from 47% in June, and a “big reason why" the public has shifted so decisively against Trump’s immigration policy, Enten said.

Despite Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s assertion on Sunday that 70% of migrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement have “committed or have charges against them on violent crimes,” her own agency’s data shows that only 47% had any criminal convictions. Other analyses suggest the number of arrested migrants with no criminal history to be even higher.

“The Trump administration and Trump in particular has lost the center of the electorate when it comes to a key component of his administration's agenda, and that is to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally,” Enten said. “They think he's taken the eye off the ball.”

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