The head of the Eisenhower Presidential Library has resigned after clashing with the Trump administration over whether to give Britain’s King Charles an original sword that belonged to the former president and general.
During Donald Trump’s state visit to the U.K., the president gave the British monarch a replica of a sword that had belonged to President Dwight Eisenhower.
It is not clear who had decided on the historic sword, from the collection of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home, but first lady Melania Trump was in charge of selecting gifts for the trip, CBS News reported.
But then-director Todd Arrington, a career historian, argued against giving away an artifact that had been donated to the library and was the property of the American people, according to CBS.
On Monday, he resigned as director of the presidential library, a role he had held since August 2024.
According to the independent journalist Anthony Clark, it would have been against federal law and agency regulations for Arrington to turn over the original sword.
He offered to help find an alternative gift, but State Department officials kept pushing for a sword.
Arrington’s staff offered to help find a replica, and eventually, West Point Military Academy provided a copy of Eisenhower’s officer saber to gift to Charles.
Some members of the Trump administration, however, were unhappy with Arrington, sources told both CBS and Clark.
That included James Byron, Special Assistant to Acting Archivist Marco Rubio, sources told Clark. On Monday, he urged Arrington to resign “in lieu of firing.”
The ostensible reason was that Arrington had shared confidential information with his staff to build a new private Eisenhower Foundation center on federal land. Library team members had noticed surveyors working on the land.
Arrington, the first lady’s office, and NARA, which operates 16 presidential libraries and museums, did not respond to CBS’s request for comment. The Daily Beast has also reached out.
Last month, the president received an unprecedented—and arguably groveling—welcome fit for a king at Windsor, where officials made up a ceremony that stitched together elements of other royal spectacles, including a carriage ride, massive gun salute, and inspection of the guard led by Trump himself.
Later, the president and first lady exchanged gifts out of public view.
King Charles and Queen Camilla presented President Trump with a leather-bound book marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, along with the Union Jack that flew over Buckingham Palace on the day of Trump’s second inauguration.
They gifted Melania Trump a silver-and-enamel bowl by Northern Irish artist Cara Murphy and a designer handbag by Anya Hindmarch.
Charles was given the replica sword, and Queen Camilla received a vintage Tiffany diamond and ruby flower brooch.
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