Israel deports Greta Thunberg after Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel deported activist Greta Thunberg on Tuesday, a day after the Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized by the Israeli military.

Speaking upon arrival in Paris en route to her home country of Sweden, Thunberg called for the release of the other activists who were detained aboard the Madleen. She described a “quite chaotic and uncertain” situation during the detention.

The conditions they faced “are absolutely nothing compared to what people are going through in Palestine and especially Gaza right now," she said. The trip was meant to protest Israeli restrictions on aid to Gaza's population of over 2 million people after 20 months of war, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group behind the journey.

"We were well aware of the risks of this mission," Thunberg said. “The aim was to get to Gaza and to be able to distribute the aid.” She said the activists would continue trying to get aid to Gaza.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump called Thunberg “a young angry person” and recommended she take anger management classes.

"I think the world need a lot more young angry women," Thunberg said Tuesday in response.

Thunberg said it appeared she was headed back to Sweden, hadn't had access to a phone in a few days and wanted a shower. The activists were held separately and some had trouble accessing lawyers, she added.

Asked why she agreed to deportation, she said, “Why would I want to stay in an Israeli prison more than necessary?”

Thunberg called on supporters to ask their governments “to demand not only humanitarian aid being let into Gaza but most importantly an end to the occupation and an end to the systemic oppression and violence that Palestinians are facing on an everyday basis.”

She said recognizing Palestine is “the very, very, very minimum” that governments can do to help.

Thunberg was one of 12 passengers on the Madleen. Israeli naval forces seized the boat without incident early Monday about 200 kilometers (125 miles) off Gaza.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, along with rights groups, said Israel's actions in international waters were a violation of international law. Israel rejects that charge, saying such ships intend to breach what it argues is a lawful naval blockade of Gaza.

Israel viewed the ship as a publicity stunt, calling it the “selfie yacht” with a “meager” amount of aid that amounted to less than a truckload.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said three activists, including Thunberg, had been deported along with a journalist. It said it had encouraged some to do it so they could speak freely about their experiences.

“Their detention is unlawful, politically motivated and a direct violation of international law,” the coalition said in a statement. Eight other passengers refused deportation and are being detained at Givon prison in Ramle. On Tuesday, Israeli authorities heard their cases at a detention tribunal.

“We argued today, and that also was emphasized by all the activists, that their goal is to enter humanitarian aid to Gaza, to end the famine and to end a genocide in Gaza," said Lubna Tuma, a lawyer with legal rights group Adalah, who is representing the activists. "Any violation or any prohibition to entering the humanitarian aid to Gaza is deepening the complicity of Israel in the famine in Gaza.”

Legal representatives for the group said that because Israeli seized their vessel in international waters and forcibly transported them to Israeli territory, Israel had no authority to detain or deport them.

Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for Israel's Interior Ministry, said the activists who were being deported Tuesday had waived their right to appear before a judge. The others have a hearing with the judge and will be held for 96 hours before being deported, she said.

Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, was among the passengers. She has previously been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. It was not clear whether she was being immediately deported or detained.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said one of the detained French activists signed an expulsion order and would leave Tuesday. The other five refused. He said all the activists received consular visits.

Sergio Toribio, a Spanish activist, slammed Israel's actions after he arrived in Barcelona.

“It is unforgivable, it is a violation of our rights. It is a pirate attack in international waters," he told reporters.

Palestinians in Gaza are now almost completely dependent on international aid.

Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of a blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from importing arms, while critics say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s Palestinian population.

During the 20-month-long war in Gaza, Israel has restricted and sometimes blocked all aid into the territory, including food, fuel and medicine. Experts say that policy has pushed Gaza toward famine. Israel asserts that Hamas siphons off the aid to bolster its rule.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war and took 251 hostages, most released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas still holds 55 hostages, more than half believed to be dead.

Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said women and children make up most of the dead.

The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territory’s population.

Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris, Teresa Medrano in Madrid, Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem and Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg talks to journalists as she arrives at Stockholm Arlanda Airport outside Stockholm, Sweden, Tuesday June 10, 2025. (Anders Wiklund/TT News Agency via AP)

Climate activist Greta Thunberg stands near a Palestinian flag after boarding the Madleen boat and before setting sail for Gaza along with activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

Activist Greta Thunberg answers reporters as she arrives from Israel at Charles de Gaulle airport, north of Paris, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Activist Greta Thunberg arrives from Israel at Charles de Gaulle airport, north of Paris, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Activist Greta Thunberg arrives from Israel at Charles de Gaulle airport Tuesday, June 10, 2025, north of Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

The Gaza-bound aid boat, Madleen, under escort of Israeli naval forces enters to Ashdod Port in southern Israel after being seized by Israeli forces, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Climate activist Greta Thunberg with other activists from a human rights organization meets with journalists in Catania, Italy, Sunday, June 1, 2025, ahead of their departure for the Mideast. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

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)