--- title: President Obama: Donald Trump Should Visit History Museum description: President Obama criticized Donald Trump and said he should visit the new African American history museum. canonical: https://time.com/4505653/president-obama-donald-trump-african-american-history-museum/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-23T14:09:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:47:27.122Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama: Donald Trump Should Visit History Museum og:description: "What we have to do is use our history to propel us to make even more progress" og:url: https://time.com/4505653/president-obama-donald-trump-african-american-history-museum/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538355296995cd2d/6988a7460a4a22c9fd9cb63f/obama_national_endowment_arts_african_american_museum.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Barack Obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama: Donald Trump Should Visit History Museum twitter:description: "What we have to do is use our history to propel us to make even more progress" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538355296995cd2d/6988a7460a4a22c9fd9cb63f/obama_national_endowment_arts_african_american_museum.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Wants Donald Trump to Visit New African American History Museum  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Sep 23, 2016 2:09 PM UTC  President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Sept. 22, 2016. President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Sept. 22, 2016.Susan Walsh—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Sep 23, 2016 2:09 PM UTC President Obama thinks Donald Trump could learn a thing or two from the [Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture](http://time.com/4487318/smithsonian-museum-african-american-history-culture/?iid=sr-link2) in Washington, D.C. “What we have to do is use our history to propel us to make even more progress in the future,” Obama said in an [ABC interview](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-walks-line-law-order-empathy-blacks-42300286) from the [new museum](http://time.com/4494067/artifacts-national-museum-african-american-history/), encouraging Trump to visit after it opens on Saturday. Obama also criticized Trump for saying that “African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape than they’ve ever been in before, ever, ever, ever.” “I think even most 8-year-olds would tell you that whole slavery thing wasn’t very good for black people. Jim Crow wasn’t very good for black people,” the President said. Trump has been making a controversial [pitch to black voters](http://time.com/4502754/donald-trump-black-church-voters-cleveland/?xid=tcoshare), and his comments this week came amid clashes between protesters and police after two shootings of black men in [Charlotte](http://time.com/4505325/charlotte-protests-keith-lamont-scott/?xid=homepage) and [Tulsa](http://time.com/4505101/terence-crutcher-tulsa-betty-shelby-manslaughter-charge/?xid=homepage). 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