Trump Moves to Squeeze Agency Overseeing SF’s Presidio

President Donald Trump has taken aim at the 1,500-acre Presidio national park in San Francisco, which has 200 commercial tenants and nearly 3,000 residents.

The president issued an executive order Wednesday evening to “dramatically” shrink the Presidio Trust, the federal agency that manages the sprawling park at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the San Francisco Standard reported.

The order, titled “Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy,” aims to downsize the federal government and labels the Presidio Trust and other agencies as “unnecessary.”

The order also targets the Inter-American Foundation, the United States African Development Foundation and the United States Institute of Peace for potential elimination. While the immediate effects of the order remain unclear, it’s expected to face legal challenges.

The former military base has restaurants, a golf course and a hotel, as well as museums, schools, campgrounds and hiking trails, according to its website. The park, originally an 18th century Spanish fort and later a U.S. Army post, was decommissioned in the late 1980s.

Its 2 million-square-foot commercial portfolio in 2023 was expected to grow to 2.5 million square feet.

Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, strongly opposed the order, calling it “insane.”

He emphasized the Presidio’s importance as a thriving and successful park for everyone, highlighting its ecological and environmental significance. The order mandates that each agency head submit a compliance report to the Office of Management and Budget within two weeks.

In response, the Presidio Trust issued a statement affirming its adherence to the 1996 law that established it and assured that the park would remain open during the OMB’s review. The trust said it is confident that its activities are statutorily based and that all services and businesses would continue to operate as normal.

Marie Hurabiell, a former Presidio board trustee appointed by Trump in 2018, urged patience, suggesting that the impact might be minimal due to the park’s self-sustaining financial model. She noted that the trust is well run and not funded by taxpayers.

The Presidio Trust’s 2025 budget filings indicate a projected operating revenue of $184 million, with a surplus of around $46 million, and an $87 million surplus forecast for next year.

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s office said it’s reviewing the order and emphasized the bipartisan support for the Presidio Trust Act since its passage in 1996.

State Sen. Scott Wiener criticized Trump’s order as legally dubious, calling the Presidio Trust a “national treasure” and vowing to contest the action.

Residents and workers in the Presidio also voiced concerns about the potential impacts of the cuts.

Guadalupe Ceja, who works for Futures Without Violence, worried about the “ripple effect” of downsizing, while Scott Jampol, a parent dropping off his child at a Presidio high school, described the park as “indispensable.”

— Dana Bartholomew