Trump fires all San Francisco Presidio Trust board members
President Donald Trump has fired the entire board of trustees of the Presidio Trust, the federal corporation that manages the Presidio of San Francisco, the former army base and historic landmark converted into a national park.
A White House official told CBS News Bay Area, "The President fired all of the Presidio Trust board members and will soon replace them with new members that are more aligned with his vision."
The six board members, all appointees of former President Joe Biden, received termination notices on Wednesday, and they have not yet been replaced, according to spokesperson Lisa Petrie.
The firings come more than a year after Trump targeted the Presidio Trust in an executive order, calling it "unnecessary" and seeking to drastically shrink its functions as part of the administration's push to dismantle parts of the federal bureaucracy. The order also applied to three other agencies - the Inter-American Foundation, the United States African Development Foundation, and the United States Institute of Peace - and has been tied up in court battles.
Petrie said in a statement that the firings were expected.
"We had been anticipating that we would ultimately receive new board members and are awaiting information on the new appointments," Petrie said. "We have a long history of wonderful leaders serving the Presidio, and we look forward to welcoming and working with the new members."
House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who led the effort to create the Presidio Trust in 1996, said in a statement that the decision to fire the board members was "disappointing."
"While this decision is unfortunate, previous Republican appointees to the Board have respected the Presidio. We hope that this President will look to them for guidance on appointments," Pelosi said. "Regardless of any new Board's composition, I have every confidence that the Presidio Trust will continue to be protected by the strength of the legislation which created it."
Established by Congress in 1996, the Presidio Trust oversees all aspects of the 1,500-acre Presidio, a military post for over 200 years, which became a national park in 1994. Located at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, the site is a California Historical Landmark, a National Historic Landmark, and on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Aside from the six board members appointed by the president, the Presidio Trust also has a seventh board trustee appointed by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, a seat that has been vacant since 2021.
In February, Presidio Trust CEO Jean Fraser announced she would step down at the end of the year. However, following news of the board terminations, the search for a new CEO has been put on hold, according to Petrie.
"Jean Fraser will continue to serve as Trust CEO until the new board members are oriented and comfortable with their knowledge of the Trust and the park," Petrie said.
As part of the agreement establishing the Presidio Trust, Congress mandated that the Presidio become self-sufficient by 2013, a goal that was achieved in 2005. The park's renovated former Army buildings now house museums, businesses, hotels, restaurants, as well as hiking trails, campgrounds, and recreation areas with million-dollar views of the Golden Gate.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has called the Presidio the "crown jewel of San Francisco and a national model for how public land can serve the public."
Last year, the Presidio reported its office vacancy rate at 1.4% compared to San Francisco's office vacancy rate as a whole at 33.6%, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report.