Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Records Released In Response to Presidential Records Act (PRA) questions under the Trump Administration

NARA officials are often consulted about records management of presidential and federal records. The Presidential Records Act governs access to records after the end of an administration. For more information visit https://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/laws/1978-act.html.

The National Archives received records from the Trump Administration which ended on January 20, 2021. We are in the process of preserving and providing access to these records, including all official Trump Administration social media content, and deleted posts from @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS. As records are made available online, they may be accessed through the trumplibrary.gov website, which is part of NARA. The Trump Library will begin accepting FOIA requests on January 20, 2026 in accordance with the PRA.

Below are documents concerning records management related inquiries about the Trump Administration's presidential records.

Document Title	Document Date
White House letter to the Archivist of the United States: Trump PRA Designation	February 16, 2017
White House memo to all personnel re PRA obligations (attached to Oct. 2 Compliance Reminder email)	February 22, 2017
Letter from Sens. McCaskill and Carper to Archivist David S. Ferriero	March 7, 2017
Archivist's response to Sens. McCaskill and Carper	March 30, 2017
Attachments to March 30, 2017 letter: Briefing on the PRA Background on the PRA Guidance on Presidential Records (publication) Presidential Records, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 22 Proposed rule on Presidential Records (note: now a final rule) Notification Procedures Approved Requests for Waiver of Incumbent President Privilege Review Approved Requests for Disposal of Incumbent Presidential Records NSC memo, Feb. 6, 2009 on procedure for access to PRA records of previous administration Archivist's memo to Senior Agency Officials for Records Management on Records Management Priorities for 2017 Records Express Blog on Records Management of Social Media and Electronic Records
White House email: Compliance Reminder PRA	October 2, 2017
White House email: Monthly Legal Compliance and Ethics Training reminder	October 2, 2017
American Oversight letter: Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity and potential alienation of records	January 18, 2018
NARA response letter to American Oversight: Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity and potential alienation of records	January 25, 2018
White House letter to the Archivist of the United States: Updated Trump Designation of PRA Representatives	January 19, 2021
Letter from House Committee on Oversight and Reform regarding recovery of Trump PRA records	February 9, 2022
Archivist's response to House Committee on Oversight and Reform regarding recovery of Trump PRA records NARA letter to Stefan Passantino, Deputy Counsel to the President regarding destruction of records, June 14, 2018	February 18, 2022
Archivist's letter to House Committee on Oversight and Reform regarding Trump social media records	February 18, 2022
Archivist's letter to Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs regarding Trump social media records	February 18, 2022

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