President Donald Trump issued an executive order Wednesday to eliminate the Presidio Trust, which operates and protects one of San Francisco's most iconic landmarks.
According to the order, the Presidio Trust should be eliminated because it’s “unnecessary.” The Presidio Trust is the federal agency charged with running and protecting Presidio of San Francisco, which was designated a national historic landmark in 1962.
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi issued a statement Wednesday night in response to the executive order.
“In 1996, the Presidio Trust Act was passed in a bipartisan way when Republicans held the majority in Congress and has retained bipartisan support ever since. The Presidio Trust is statutory, and it has been protected from assaults over time by its statutory strength. We will be carefully reviewing the language of the President’s executive order and its purpose.”
In 2023, Pelosi announced $200 million from the federal government would be heading to the Presidio.
There are four federally funded entities targeted by Trump’s executive order as part of its Commencing the Reduction of Federal Bureaucracy executive order: the Presidio Trust, the Inter-American Foundation, the United States African Development Foundation and the United States Institute of Peace.
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The Presidio Trust issued a statement Thursday, saying in part: "The Presidio Trust has not received regular annual appropriations from Congress since 2013, instead relying on the funds earned by leasing the historic buildings that the Trust has renovated. We will present a report on our activities to the Office of Management and Budget, as required by the order, in two weeks. We are confident that our activities are all statutorily-based. The Presidio ... will continue to operate as normal, welcoming visitors and serving all who live and work here."
People who enjoy the Presidio were blunt when it came to sharing their thoughts on the executive order.
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"I think it's petty and simple-minded revenge," East Bay resident Ellen Smith said.
In addition to being a park, the Presidio is also a place where about 3,000 residents live. Supervisor Stephen Sherrill is now trying to calm his constituents' nerves.
"When an executive order takes aim at the non-statutory elements of the Presidio Trust, but the Presidio Trust is totally statutory, you realize it's a lot of hot air from a president who is consistently full of hot air," Sherrill said.
Before becoming president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, Jim Wunderman worked for former San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan and testified before the Senate, along with Pelosi, back in 1996 to get the Presidio Trust established. He said it's unique among the national park system.
"This is the national park that pays for itself, actually draws a surplus, and it's because of the partnership between the federal government and local people here in the region made that possible," he said.
So far, there's been no announcement of any legal action in response to the executive order. However, Pelosi, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, Sen. Adam Schiff and Sen. Alex Padilla have all pledged to work together if a legal response is needed.
Full statement from the Presidio Trust:
"President Trump has issued an executive order requiring the Presidio Trust to eliminate “all non-statutory functions” that are performed by the Presidio Trust. The Presidio Trust Act, passed by Congress in 1996, created the Presidio Trust as a wholly-owned federal corporation with a mandate to, among other things, “manage the leasing, maintenance, rehabilitation, repair and improvement of property within the Presidio” and “The Trust shall develop a comprehensive program for management of those lands and facilities within the Presidio which are transferred to the administrative jurisdiction of the Trust. Such program shall be designed to reduce expenditures by the National Park Service and increase revenues to the Federal Government to the maximum extent possible.
"We do this, as required by the Trust Act, through “an innovative public/private partnership that minimizes cost to the United States Treasury and makes efficient use of private sector resources.” The Presidio Trust has not received regular annual appropriations from Congress since 2013, instead relying on the funds earned by leasing the historic buildings that the Trust has renovated.
"We will present a report on our activities to the Office of Management and Budget, as required by the order, in two weeks. We are confident that our activities are all statutorily-based.
"The Presidio a one-of-a-kind national park site, and all of its services and business will continue to operate as normal, welcoming visitors and serving all who live and work here."
