Trump’s PAC funded Smithsonian portraits though individual donors were suggested, emails show

The donation marked the first time in recent memory that a political organization has financed a former president’s portrait for the museum, as they are typically paid for by individual donors solicited by the Smithsonian. News of the unusual gift, first reported in August by Business Insider, also sparked a public backlash against the museum and questions about the identity of a second donor who gave a separate $100,000 gift to help fund the portraits, according to emails obtained by the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and reviewed Monday by The Washington Post. Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas reiterated Monday that the second donor is “a citizen and wished to remain anonymous.” She also noted that one of the portraits is complete and the other is “in process.”