The Smithsonian has issued a statement supporting Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch following President Trump's claim that he fired the director of the National Portrait Gallery.

The Board of Regents publicly backed Smithsonian leader Lonnie G. Bunch III and called for nonpartisanship after Trump attempted to fire a museum director.

The Smithsonian says it retains the authority over personnel such as the director of the National Portrait Gallery, whose firing the president had announced.

The Smithsonian's Board of Regents Monday night affirmed the authority of its secretary, Lonnie Bunch III, to make "all personnel decisions" at the national museums institution, 10 days after President Donald Trump said he had fired National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet.

The Trump administration has rightly won an audit from the Smithsonian Institution. But this is only the start.

Following President Trump’s announcement last month that he was firing Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution has issued a clarifying affirmation of its own authority in such matters—while vowing to make welcome strides toward keeping politics out of its exhibitions.

The Smithsonian issued a statement Monday saying that it controls its personnel decisions after President Donald Trump announced in May