Comment The political action committee controlled by former President Donald Trump has made a $650,000 contribution to the Smithsonian Institution that will almost entirely fund portraits of Trump and former first lady Melania Trump for the National Portrait Gallery, marking the first time in recent memory that a political organization has sponsored a portrait of a former president for the museum. Trump’s Save America PAC disclosed a $650,000 “charitable contribution” to the Smithsonian Institution in a filing with the Federal Election Commission over the weekend. As first reported by Business Insider, the funds will go toward artist and other fees related to the Trump portraits at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas. Two artists have been commissioned for the paintings of Donald and Melania Trump, but their names have not been released. Commission fees for the two Trump portraits will be $750,000, which will be covered by the Save America PAC donation and a second private gift of $100,000 from a yet-to-be-disclosed donor, St. Thomas said. It is unclear when the Trump portraits will be completed, he added. The Obama portraits were unveiled about 13 months after President Barack Obama left office. Although unusual, the donation — and its use — is legal because Save America is a lead PAC with few restrictions on the use of funds. Such political action committees, in addition to supporting like-minded candidates, can be used to pay consultants, cover travel expenses, and cover legal bills, among other expenses. Most of the money in Trump’s PAC comes from small-dollar donors who respond to emails and other solicitations. Imagine the Smithsonian is under attack. This “army” is ready. Although the National Portrait Gallery was created by Congress in 1962, it did not begin commissioning portraits of outgoing presidents until 1994, when Ronald Sherr painted George HW Bush. The museum added the first lady’s portrait to the panel in 2006. In the past, these portraits have been funded by private donations, usually from supporters of the outgoing administration. More than 300 donors — including Steven Spielberg, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen — contributed $750,000 to the Obama portraits, which were painted by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, according to the Smithsonian. The donor lists for the Obama and Bush portraits did not include any political action committees. Commissions for portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama made international art headlines in 2018 due to the stature of the painters, who were the first African-American artists to receive presidential commissions. Wiley is a contemporary art star known for his colorful and subversive approach, while Sherald was then an up-and-comer who won the gallery’s 2016 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Nelson Shanks drew Bill Clinton and Ginny Stanford drew Hillary Clinton. Robert A. Anderson received the commission for the portrait of George W. Bush, which was unveiled in 2008. The two were classmates at Yale University. Laura Bush was painted by Aleksander Titovets. In April 2021, Donald Trump debuted the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition of presidents with a Paris Dukovich photograph of Trump sitting in the Oval Office behind the Resolute Desk. Isaac Stanley-Becker contributed to this report.
