Letters from Kim Jong Un, Obama reportedly among documents Trump improperly removed from White House


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.

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."
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.
-
Every MCU movie since 'Avengers: Endgame,' ranked
The Week Recommends How did the recent 'Fantastic Four: First Steps' stack up?
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Court says labor board's structure unconstitutional
Speed Read The ruling has broad implications for labor rights enforcement in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi
-
Court says labor board's structure unconstitutional
Speed Read The ruling has broad implications for labor rights enforcement in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi
-
Feds seek harsh charges in DC arrests, except for rifles
Speed Read The DOJ said 465 arrests had been made in D.C. since Trump federalized law enforcement there two weeks ago
-
Judges: Threatened for ruling against Trump
Feature Threats against federal judges across the U.S. have surged since Donald Trump took office
-
The census: Why Trump wants a new one
Feature Donald Trump is pushing for a 'Trumpified census' that excludes undocumented immigrants
-
Trump taps Missouri AG to help lead FBI
Speed Read Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been appointed FBI co-deputy director, alongside Dan Bongino
-
Trump warms to Kyiv security deal in summit
Speed Read Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Trump's support for guaranteeing his country's security 'a major step forward'
-
Trump extends power with D.C. police takeover
Feature Donald Trump deploys 500 law enforcement officers and 800 National Guard members to fight crime in Washington, D.C.
-
DC protests as Trump deployment ramps up
Speed Read Trump's 'crusade against crime' is targeting immigrants and the homeless