National Archives Retrieved Sensitive Documents Trump Took From White House To Mar-A-Lago

The National Archives obtained several boxes of White House documents last month that had been improperly transported to Mar-A-Lago by former President Donald Trump, because they contained items that were supposed to be turned over to the agency as proper preservation of records.

The Archives were meant to receive these documents promptly at the end of Trump’s presidency, and they finally received them over a year later. Trump’s team has pushed back against criticism of these actions, claiming that the boxes were taken because they contained items of sentimental value, including gifts and letters from other world leaders and physical mementos of his time in the Presidency.

Critics have pointed to this as a concern because Trump has frequently shirked the responsibilities of the Presidential Records Act, which specifically requires the preservation of memos, notes, emails, and all other written communication related to the President’s duties. Trump has disregarded these rulings in the past, having destroyed and ripped up hundreds of documents and sometimes leaving the Archives to attempt to repair them.

According to the archives, some of the documents that have been destroyed were ones that were requested by the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Even though Trump has not been acting in accordance with this Act, there is little the Archives can do to actually enforce these rulings. One Archives official described the requirement as little more than a “gentlemen’s agreement” between the Archives and Presidential Administrations.

Along with the torn-up records, the boxes Trump took also allegedly contained several letters sent between him and Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un. Trump has referred to these notes as “love letters” in past comments, and Kim apparently called his relationship to Trump a “deep and special friendship” in one letter obtained by author Bob Woodward.