San Francisco’s Presidio Trust Defends Its Existence in Response to Trump Order

The federal agency that operates San Francisco’s Presidio defended its existence and appeared to jab at President Trump in a report it was required to file Tuesday, two weeks after it was targeted by a Trump order seeking to shrink the federal government.

The report filed to the Office of Management and Budget (PDF) lays out the broad powers and requirements given to the Presidio Trust when it was created by an act of Congress in 1996. In the trust’s defense, it also quotes four board members Trump appointed during his first term in office, and it highlights the public-private partnership’s financial self-sufficiency.

“The Presidio Trust is a national treasure, and the Presidio Trust Act is one of the most creative efforts I have seen in government,” said Thomas Fargo, who Trump appointed to the board in 2020.

The Presidio Trust’s report is in response to a Feb. 19 executive order from the Trump administration that aimed to all but eliminate four federal agencies. The “Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy” order called for shrinking agencies that the administration deemed “unnecessary” to “minimize government waste and abuse.”

The trust — along with the Inter-American Foundation, the United States African Development Foundation, and the United States Institute of Peace — was ordered to report what its statutory operations were and eliminate its non-statutory functions “to the maximum extent” allowed by that law.

The report lists the broad statutory powers written in the Presidio Trust Act, which Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D–San Francisco) said was written to withstand attacks, whether they came from the federal government or private sector interests.

“We knew we would be under assault because there were people who just didn’t want something new like that, so we had a strong statutory bill,” she said last month, adding that “statutory” simply means functions that are protected by law. “We knew we were breaking ground, and we were not going to leave it broken. So when [Trump] comes after this and says, ‘We want to review what a bill is,’ he’s going to find a model for the country on that.”

The Presidio Trust Act gives the federal agency broad powers over the former Army base, which was rehabilitated into a national park site under the trust’s stewardship. It says that a seven-member board, whose members are selected by the current president and the secretary of the interior when their four-year terms expire, will oversee the powers and management of the trust and that the trust is authorized to appoint and pay employees, including an executive director, as it sees fit.

It also gives the trust blanket power to manage properties within the Presidio.

“The Trust may adopt, amend, repeal, and enforce bylaws, rules and regulations governing the manner in which its business may be conducted and the powers vested in it may be exercised, including rules and regulations for the use and management of the property under the Trust’s jurisdiction,” the statute reads.

It also says the agency will retain any revenue — which its 2025 interim budget (PDF) estimates will be around $46 million — and use it to maintain and improve its properties.

The Presidio Trust had not received regular appropriations from Congress since 2013, when it was required to become financially independent. Instead, its $138 million budget comes from leasing revenue, donations and private investments.

The report says the trust has generated more than $1 billion since 2013. It currently leases 1,400 housing units to over 3,100 San Francisco residents, operates two hotels and a public golf course within its boundaries, and rents rehabilitated historic buildings to more than 300 businesses, like the Walt Disney Museum and Colibri and Dalida restaurants.

Trump appointees Carole McNeil and Lynne Benioff praised the way the agency is run, calling it a successful business and trustworthy project.

“The transformation of the Presidio from a derelict Army post into a marvelous national park has been remarkable,” Marie Hurabiell, who Trump appointed to the Trust in 2018, said in the report. “It was a pleasure to serve on the board of such a well-run entity.”