Critics fear 'hostile takeover' as Trump sets his sights on San Francisco's Presidio

U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as he holds a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 30, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

A grudge against former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and an overall contempt for the environment may motivate President Donald Trump’s war against the Presidio Trust, a 1,500-acre northern California recreation hub that includes Disney Family Museum, Industrial Light & Magic and many non-profits.

Yet according to the San Francisco Gate's Travel Editor Silas Valentino, Trump’s grudge will primarily hurt the more than 9 million people who visit the Presidio annually.

“The 1,500-acre recreation hub is one of the country’s greatest public parks,” Valentino wrote on Monday. “It deserves better than neglect from its federal leaders, who now stand to answer for any service disruptions impacting the more than 9 million people who visit each year.”

Valentino specifically criticized Trump for firing the Presidio Trust’s board of directors, which was widely expected after he pointedly refused to appoint a scheduled seventh member.

“All six members, who happened to have been appointed by President Joseph Biden, were excused effective immediately last week; three of them had terms that already expired, but the other three were not set to term out until 2027, according to the San Francisco Chronicle,” Valentino explained. “No new appointees were announced to replace any of the seats on the seven-person board. This puts the independent federal agency that manages the national park site in limbo.”

Valentino added, “The president’s playbook is familiar; after his hostile takeover of the Kennedy Center board, its members voted to shut it down for two years. No one can outright close the Presidio, however. It was established through the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 and doesn’t rely on federal funding to operate. The Presidio Trust will still operate without the board, since its members serve in an advisory capacity, but will nevertheless lack leadership — especially with its CEO stepping down this year and the ongoing search for a replacement.”

Despite opposing one San Francisco-area complex worth billions of dollars and that attracts millions of visitors, Trump is quite fond of another that few have any interest in — the abandoned island prison Alcatraz. After a May social media post arguing that Alcatraz should be reopened, in April Trump’s proposed budget included $132 million to “rebuild Alcatraz as a state-of-the-art secure prison facility."

In his May post on the social media platform he owns, Truth Social, Trump wrote that America should "REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ! For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be[.]"

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