The Trump administration had tried to secure a tour for him on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2017, according to the Post. However, Bunch wrote that the museum arranged another date for the visit after Trump’s team requested that the museum be closed to the public for the tour.
“The notion that we could shut out visitors on the first King holiday since the opening of the museum was not something I could accept,” he reportedly wrote.
Bunch also alleged that the Trump officials told him shortly before his arrival that he “was in a foul mood and that he did not want to see anything ‘difficult,’” according to The Post.
In another passage detailing the tour, Bunch reportedly took aim at the president for not “paying attention” to an exhibit that was dedicated to the Dutch involvement in the slave trade.
“The president paused in front of the exhibit that discussed the role of the Dutch in the slave trade. As he pondered the label I felt that maybe he was paying attention to the work of the museum. He quickly proved me wrong,” Bunch recalled in the memoir. “As he turned from the display he said to me, ‘You know, they love me in the Netherlands.’ All I could say was let’s continue walking.”