Madison Chock and Evan Bates match the U.S. record by winning their sixth ice dance national title

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Madison Chock and Evan Bates have been the best American ice dancers for years.

Best in the world, too.

They only served to underscore that fact on Saturday, when they won their fourth consecutive title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and their sixth overall, matching the record held by longtime standard-bearers Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

Chock and Bates followed up their sublime rhythm dance with a winning free dance, totaling 223.52 points to easily outdistance second-place Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko. Caroline Green and Michael Parsons finished third.

“It means honestly the world,” Bates said. “The U.S. championships is always an event that we hold near and dear to our hearts. I think it's because it's the competition that we grew up coming to every January, watching every year on TV as kids. It's what made us fall in love with the sport. There's something incredibly magical about this event.”

Earlier in the day, two-time defending U.S. champion and reigning world champion Ilia Malinin scored 114.08 points for his short program to take a big lead into Sunday's free skate. Andrew Torgashev was 20 points back in second and Jimmy Ma in third.

In the pairs competition, Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov managed to hold their free skate together while their biggest rivals collapsed, allowing them to do one better than their silver medal from a year ago and stand atop the podium Saturday night.

Efimova and Mitrofanov scored 211.90 points for their program, set to “Je Suis Malade” by Serge Lama. Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman also took advantage of mistakes by defending champs Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea and 2023 runner-ups Emily Chan and Spencer Howe to capture the silver medal after a marathon day at INTRUST Bank Arena.

O'Shea and Kam erred on nearly every big element — their triple toe loops, throw triple lutz and throw triple toe loop. Their triple salchow into an axel was deemed invalid, and they got no points at all for a final lift on which both skaters fell.

Kam and O'Shea wound up third with 189.57 points. Chan and Howe were fourth with 183.95.

Chock, who was dealing with a food-related stomach bug all week, nevertheless joined Bates in a rollicking rhythm dance set to music from the 1950s, ‘60s and '70s with her longtime partner on Friday night. Chock and Bates had 92.16 points, putting them nearly 10 points clear of second-place Carreira and Ponomarenko heading into the free dance.

With Chock still dealing with her illness Saturday, they still managed to pad their lead, and confirm their status as favorites not just for the upcoming world championship in Boston but also the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

“Maddie has had a tough couple of days. Wasn’t really able to fuel much,” Bates said. “She’s so tough. She’s never not going to go out there and not give it her best. It took all the little energy that she had. I just tried to give the love and support to her.”

Carreira and Ponomarenko finished with 210.79 points for their second consecutive silver medal, while Green and Parsons took bronze after they had been tied on 82.13 points with Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik after the rhythm dance.

“This dance field is so strong,” Carreira said, “that we're really proud to be on the podium.”

In the men's short program, the 20-year-old Malinin did exactly what he's become known for: nailing quads. He opened with a quad flip, breezed through a triple axel, then hit a quad lutz in combination with a triple toe loop.

“I felt really good with my skate today,” he said, before adding: "I still have work to do on the quality of my skating.”

Imagine that: Malinin thinks he could be even better.

“I don't even think of Ilia as competition anymore because it's not something I think I can achieve,” said Ma, who likened the jumping dynamo to retired Olympic champion Nathan Chen. “It's just an honor to be friends and compete with two people who can be considered GOATs in their own way.”

U.S. Figure Skating also began confirming its lineups for the world championships in March.

Amber Glenn, who won her second straight national title on Friday night, will be joined in the women's competition in Boston by U.S. silver medalist Alysa Liu and reigning world silver medalist Isabeau Levito, provided she is healthy enough to compete. She did not compete at nationals due to a lingering foot injury.

If Levito is unable to perform in Boston, she would be replaced by newly minted U.S. bronze medalist Sarah Everhardt.

Chock and Bates will lead the podium finishers from nationals into the ice dance competition, where they will be trying to win their third consecutive world championship. Zingas and Kolesnik will serve as the alternates.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympicsAP

Ilia Malinin reacts after performing in the men's short program competition at the U.S. figure skating championships Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Travis Heying)

Ilia Malinin waits for his score after performing in the men's short program competition at the U.S. figure skating championships Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Travis Heying)

Caroline Green, right, and Michael Parsons, left, perform during the ice dance rhythm dance competition at the U.S. figure skating championships Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Travis Heying)

Christina Carreira, left, and Anthony Ponomarenko, right, perform during the ice dance rhythm dance competition at the U.S. figure skating championships Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Travis Heying)

Madison Chock, right, and Evan Bates, left, acknowledge the crowd after receiving their winning scores after the ice dance free dance program competition at the U.S. figure skating championships Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Travis Heying)

Madison Chock, left, and Evan Bates, right, acknowledge the crowd after winning the ice dance competition at the U.S. figure skating championships Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Travis Heying)

Madison Chock, left, and Evan Bates, right, perform during the ice dance free dance program competition at the U.S. figure skating championships Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Travis Heying)

Madison Chock, right, and Evan Bates, left, perform during the ice dance free dance program competition at the U.S. figure skating championships Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Travis Heying)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's photo portrait display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has had references to his two impeachments removed, the latest apparent change at the collection of museums he has accused of bias as he asserts his influence over how official presentations document U.S. history.

The wall text, which summarized Trump's first presidency and noted his 2024 comeback victory, was part of the museum's “American Presidents” exhibition. The description had been placed alongside a photograph of Trump taken during his first term. Now, a different photo appears without any accompanying text block, though the text was available online. Trump was the only president whose display in the gallery, as seen Sunday, did not include any extended text.

The White House did not say whether it sought any changes. Nor did a Smithsonian statement in response to Associated Press questions. But Trump ordered in August that Smithsonian officials review all exhibits before the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The Republican administration said the effort would “ensure alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”

Trump's original “portrait label," as the Smithsonian calls it, notes Trump's Supreme Court nominations and his administration's development of COVID-19 vaccines. That section concludes: “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials.”

Then the text continues: “After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump mounted a historic comeback in the 2024 election. He is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland (1837– 1908) to have won a nonconsecutive second term.”

Asked about the display, White House spokesman Davis Ingle celebrated the new photograph, which shows Trump, brow furrowed, leaning over his Oval Office desk. Ingle said it ensures Trump's “unmatched aura ... will be felt throughout the halls of the National Portrait Gallery.”

The portrait was taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok, who is credited in the display that includes medallions noting Trump is the 45th and 47th president. Similar numerical medallions appear alongside other presidents' painted portraits that also include the more extended biographical summaries such as what had been part of Trump's display.

Sitting presidents are represented by photographs until their official paintings are commissioned and completed.

Ingle did not answer questions about whether Trump or a White House aide, on his behalf, asked for anything related to the portrait label.

The gallery said in a statement that it had previously rotated two photographs of Trump from its collection before putting up Torok's work.

“The museum is beginning its planned update of the America’s Presidents gallery which will undergo a larger refresh this Spring,” the gallery statement said. “For some new exhibitions and displays, the museum has been exploring quotes or tombstone labels, which provide only general information, such as the artist’s name.”

For now, references to Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton being impeached in 1868 and 1998, respectively, remain as part of their portrait labels, as does President Richard Nixon's 1974 resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal.

And, the gallery statement noted, “The history of Presidential impeachments continues to be represented in our museums, including the National Museum of American History.”

Trump has made clear his intentions to shape how the federal government documents U.S. history and culture. He has offered an especially harsh assessment of how the Smithsonian and other museums have featured chattel slavery as a seminal variable in the nation's development but also taken steps to reshape how he and his contemporary rivals are depicted.

In the months before his order for a Smithsonian review, he fired the head archivist of the National Archives and said he was firing the National Portrait Gallery's director, Kim Sajet, as part of his overhaul. Sajet maintained the backing of the Smithsonian's governing board, but she ultimately resigned.

At the White House, Trump has designed a notably partisan and subjective “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring gilded photographs of himself and his predecessors — with the exception of Biden, who is represented by an autopen — along with plaques describing their presidencies.

The White House said at the time that Trump himself was a primary author of the plaques. Notably, Trump's two plaques praise the 45th and 47th president as a historically successful figure while those under Biden's autopen stand-in describe the 46th executive as “by far, the worst President in American History” who “brought our Nation to the brink of destruction.”

Barrow reported from Atlanta.

People react to a photograph of President Donald Trump on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery walk past the portrait of President Donald Trump, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Visitors stop to look at a photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

A photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Anna Johnson)

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)