SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump visited the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture Tuesday, touring various exhibits including the “Paradox of Liberty” and one profiling Dr. Ben Carson, the president’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Joining the president for the tour was daughter Ivanka Trump, Dr. Ben Carson and wife Candy Carson and Trump adviser Omarosa Manigault. The group was accompanied by museum director Lonnie Bunch.
“Honestly, it’s fantastic,” the president said of the museum before posing for a photo with Carson, adding he was “very proud” of Carson. “I’ve learned and I’ve seen and they’ve done an incredible job.”
The president was initially scheduled to visit the museum in observance of Martin Luther King Day but ABC News later learned that the visit was removed from his calendar due to scheduling issues and was not fully planned out.
In brief remarks following the tour, President Trump stressed unity in the country after quoting Martin Luther King Jr.
“We’re going to bring this country together, maybe bring some of the world together, but we’re going to bring this country together,” he said. “We have a divided country, it’s been divided for many, many years, but we’re going to bring it together.”
Last week, following the joint Trump-Netanyahu press conference at the White House, First Lady Melania Trump hosted Sara Netanyahu on a visit to the museum.
The wives were accompanied by museum director Lonnie Bunch and Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton.
“Mrs Sara Netanyahu met at the White House with @FLOTUS Melania Trump, who surprised her with a visit to @NMAAHC,” read a tweet from Netanyahu’s office, along with a trio of photos of the leaders’ wives at the museum and the White House.
The first lady reportedly said in a statement afterwards of the visit, “As we remember, with deep humility and reverence, the historic plight of slavery which the Jewish and African-American people have known all too well, we rededicate ourselves to those powerful words that both our nations hold dear: “NEVER AGAIN!”
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