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President Trump has ordered the Presidio Trust to be reduced in size/David and Kay Scott file

In another move to "reduce the federal bureaucracy," President Trump has ordered the Presidio Trust at Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the San Francisco Bay area to reduce its size to the "minimum presence." Whether that would save the federal government any money is questionable, as the trust says it hasn't received any annual federal appropriations since 2013.  

"The Presidio is a one-of-a-kind national park site, and all of its services and business will continue to operate as normal, welcoming visitors and serving all who live and work here," the trust said in a statement following the president's order Wednesday night.

The trust was created by Congress in 1996 to work with the National Park Service to manage the Presidio, a former military post popular with San Franciscio locals and visitors to the Bay Area. The Presidio's connection to Golden Gate NRA was forged in 1972 when the park was created. Part of the enabling legislation called for the Presidio to be turned over to the Park Service should the U.S. Army depart, which happened in 1994.

Trump, however, considers the Presidio Trust a drag on the federal government. His executive order, which also targeted the Inter-American Foundation, United States African Development Foundation, and the United States Institute of Peace, opened by stating that, "[T]his order commences a reduction in the elements of the Federal bureaucracy that the President has determined are unnecessary. Reducing the size of the Federal Government will minimize Government waste and abuse, reduce inflation, and promote American freedom and innovation."

The Trust, a favorite of U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California, its Congressional benefactor, long has been a target of Republicans in Congress. When there was a move in the House in 2011 to eliminate federal funding for the Presidio, Pelosi pointed out not only that the organization had become a model "public-private partnership," and was on its way to financial self-sufficiency, which it attained in 2013.

Two years ago House Republicans became enraged when the Biden administration targeted $200 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds for the trust to address deferred maintenance needs and build in climate-change resiliency at the Presidio. Just last month the House Ways and Means Committee called for ending that commitment and recovering the funds.

While the president's executive ordered directed that the trust "reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law," a release from the trust said it would report back to the Office of Management and Budget as directed but was confident that "our activities are all statutorily-based."

What the trust does is manage facilities that the Park Service doesn't at Golden Gate. When the military base was closed in 1994, the Park Service found itself with a large unit including numerous unneeded structures that would entail enormous maintenance expenses. As a result, responsibility for management of the new park was split between the Park Service and the Presidio Trust, with the Park Service taking care of 300 acres of recreational coastal area at the Presidio and the trust administering the larger interior portion that includes most of the structures.

The trust basically handles the Presidio's business end. Established with the provision it would receive government funding for a maximum of 15 years, the trust became self-supporting ahead of schedule by renting the Presidio's numerous buildings to individuals and businesses at market-based rates. In some instances building renovations are financed by the Trust, while in other cases construction and renovations are paid for by the eventual occupants. The latter was the case for the Walt Disney Family Museum and the Letterman Digital Arts Center.

Additional reporting by David and Kay Scott.