The director of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home has resigned from his position, and, according to a rather bizarre new report from CBS News, he came to his decision, in large part, because of a gift from First Lady Melania Trump for King Charles III.
A few weeks ago, President and First Lady Donald and Melania Trump paid a highly-publicized visit to the United Kingdom, where the pair were met with approximately the same level of excitement and fervor by the British public that one would expect for a bad case of syphilis.
In preparation for their visit across the pond, Melania’s aides presented her with a list of potential lavish and/or important gifts that she could personally bestow upon the less-than-beloved British monarch. Ultimately, the First Lady chose a sword from the Eisenhower Presidential Museum’s collection.
Melania’s decision to pull a historical artifact out of the museum’s collection and bestow it upon the King of the United Kingdom was not a choice that sat well with Todd Arrington — a career historian who served as the director of the Eisenhower Museum and previously held posts with the National Park Service and National Archives and Records Administration — and was left balking at the notion of Melania Trump gifting the 34th president’s sword to another country’s leader.
“Arrington’s departure came after he resisted taking an original Eisenhower sword out of the library’s collection,” CBS News reported of the incident. “Eisenhower possessed several swords, including a Sword of Honor given to him in 1947 by the city of London for his role as Allied Supreme Commander during World War II, an honor saber gifted to him by the Netherlands in 1947, and his West Point officer saber.”
Arrington was so unsettled by the notion of the sword leaving what he felt was its rightful home that he went so far as to suggest that the First Lady could use a high-quality replica as a gift instead. Melania Trump unsurprisingly refused to budge.
According to CBS, this is what ultimately led to Arrington’s decision to part ways with the Eisenhower Museum.
Buckingham Palace released a statement last month, confirming that King Charles was ultimately gifted a replica version of one of Eisenhower’s swords, though they did not specify which one, stating that the gift from the American leaders “symbolizes profound respect and is a reminder of the historical partnership that was critical to winning World War II.”
“Ultimately, West Point provided a faux version of Eisenhower’s sword from the military academy,” the report reads before further noting that tensions between Todd Arrington and the Trump Administration were already on the rise and nearing a boiling point even before the Eisenhower sword debacle.
It seems that Arrington was already butting heads with the Trump Administration, as the Eisenhower Museum director has apparently dared to voice his criticism of the 47th president.
The details surrounding tensions and upset about the sword, specifically, are admittedly a bit murky, as sources have claimed that the conversations between the museum and the Trump Administration regarding a substitute, replica sword were generally polite and free of tension.
“One administration official said Arrington was believed to have spoken critically about the president and the administration,” CBS reports.
Arrington had been serving in his position as the director of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home since August 2024. The White House does not boast a formal or official role in the hiring or firing of presidential library directors.
Ultimately, Todd Arrington remained steadfast in his convictions and his dedication to the preservation of history, while Melania Trump remained steadfast in her dedication to not really caring… Do you?
Featured image via U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Apolonia L. Gaspar, public domain
Andrea is a full-time political reporter with more than 10 years of experience in the field. She serves as a writer for Liberal Agenda as well as the onwner and operator of The Resistance Report.
When she's not covering Trump's BS, you can find her mom-ing her feminist-in-training, trolling MAGA in her comments section, and behaving as an overall Menace to Society.
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