Letters from Kim Jong Un, Obama reportedly among documents Trump improperly removed from White House
![Mar-a-Lago.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/oabYec7BkbzyjtYVaS4uHi-415-80.jpg)
The National Archives and Records Administration last month got a hold of multiple boxes containing documents and records from the Trump White House, after former President Donald Trump "improperly removed" the boxes and brought them to his Mar-a-Lago residence, The Washington Post reports. The boxes should have been handed over to the National Archives.
Though advisers deny bad intent, the Post reports, the reclamation of the boxes "raises new concerns about [Trump's] adherence to the Presidential Records Act, which requires the preservation of memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes, and other written communications related to a president's official duties."
The boxes contained contained "mementos, gifts, letters from world leaders, and other correspondence," the Post says. Among the contents were communications with North Korea's Kim Jong Un — which Trump once called "love letters" — as well as a letter left for him by former President Barack Obama.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"The only way that a president can really be held accountable long term is to preserve a record about who said what, who did what, what policies were encouraged or adopted," presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky told the Post, "and that is such an important part of the long-term scope of accountability — beyond just elections and campaigns."
All recent administrations have violated the Presidential Records Act from time to time, and the National Archives has also had to previously retrieve documents from other White Houses after a president has left office. That said, Trump is still an anomaly "in the scale of the records retrieved from Mar-a-Lago," the Post writes.
Said one person close to the matter: "NARA has never had that kind of volume transfer after the fact like this."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Is the new Palestinian unity a mirage? And how will it affect the war?
Today's Big Question 'Bitter foes' Hamas and Fatah look to the future
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Wall Street tumbles on poor tech results
Speed Read US markets had their worst day since 2022 as Tesla and AI stocks dropped
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Salt Lake City named host of 2034 Winter Olympics
Speed Read The Winter Games are returning to the US for the first time in 32 years
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Netanyahu makes controversial address
Speed Reads Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress denounced Gaza war protestors
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Why is China stockpiling resources?
The Explainer The superpower has been amassing huge reserves of commodities at great cost despite its economic downturn
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
The GOP is Donald Trump Jr.'s party now
In The Spotlight The former president's gun-loving, live-streaming adult son has emerged as more than just his father's namesake — he's become a Republican powerhouse of his own
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
For God and country: is religion in politics making a comeback?
Talking Point There are many MPs of faith in the new Labour government despite it being the most openly secular House of Commons in history
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The attack on Donald Trump
Opinion We've seen this kind of shooter before
By Susan Caskie Published
-
74 things Donald Trump has said about women
Feature The former president has a long history of controversial remarks about the opposite sex
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
DHS opens review of Trump assassination attempt
Speed Read An independent panel will investigate the Secret Service's handling of the shooting
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Can Kamala Harris beat Trump?
Today's Big Question Some senior Democrats are unsure the vice-president can win in November even as party closes ranks behind her
By The Week UK Published