20 Feb 2025

DJT Orders Near-Elimination of Presidio Trust, Two Foundations and an Institute of Peace

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Donald Trump signed an executive order to essentially eliminate in all but name the Presidio Trust, Inter-American Foundation, U.S. African Development Foundation and U.S. Institute of Peace.

These were created by Congressional legislation, so eliminating them requires acts of Congress, not an executive order. Having learned from earlier executive orders that overreached by ordering closure of agencies created by law, this executive order sidesteps by stating “The non-statutory components and functions of the [named] governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law”. In other words, the order aims to reduce them as close as possible to existing only in name. 

Click here to read the executive order.

Presidio Trust is a federal agency that manages the 1500 acre Presidio historic National Park and former military post by the base of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. It has not received regular annual appropriations from Congress since 2013. It relies on revenue from leasing rehabilitated historic buildings and operating businesses within the park. It reinvests its funds into maintenance, operations, and improvements. The executive order deemed the Presidio Trust an “unnecessary governmental entity.” 

Inter-American Foundation invests in community-led development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its efforts bolster local stability in the areas where it operates, which in turn reduces migration to the USA.

U.S. African Development Foundation invests in African grassroots enterprises and social entrepreneurs, promoting self-reliance and market-based solutions to poverty across Africa.

U.S. Institute of Peace strives to prevent, mitigate and resolve violent conflicts abroad in order to reduce the risk that the USA will be drawn into costly foreign wars.