Even after he was voted out of office, former President Donald Trump is causing issues for White House staff. Members of the National Archives and Records Administration, the NARA, are still dealing with the damage caused by Trump’s habit of ripping up documents. 

It was a common practice of his to rip up documents, ranging from unclassified to classified. Not only would he rip them up, he would also leave them scattered about for others to clean up. It has been reported that he left the scraps on his desk, in the trash can in his private West Wing study and on the floor of Air Force One, among many other places. 

Not only is the destruction and mess he created disrespectful to those who work for those who work at NARA, it is quite literally an illegal violation of the Presidential Records Act. The Act requires that any records of the President’s that pertained to his official duties, like memos, letters, faxes, etc., be turned over to the National Archives. 

Trump was so notorious about it that members of the White House staff had to implement protocols in order to get him to stop. However, that did not succeed, and instead the routine became picking up the scraps left in his wake and taping them back together with clear tape. 

It’s impossible to know just how many documents Trump destroyed during his four years as president, but those familiar with the issue would estimate at least 100. Even worse, there were staffers who worked under Trump who were instructed to make their own decisions on which documents would be put into a “burn bag” and otherwise destroyed, before any member of the NARA ever got to view them. 

To destroy over 100 important documents pertaining to the welfare of this country is an absolutely despicable act, and former president Trump should be held accountable for his disrespect and negligence. 

The issue with having him face consequences is that there are not any currently written into the Presidential Records Act, so while his destruction of documents was most certainly illegal, it is very unlikely that he will face any type of punishment for it. 

That is something that I strongly believe needs to be changed. What good is creating an Act like the Presidential Records Act if there is no system in place to ensure that it is followed? There needs to be consequences for breaking the rules of the Act, because if there are not, there is nothing stopping another president from destroying documents the same way Trump did. There is no way to make Trump face whatever potential consequences that could be written into the Act due to the concept of ex post facto laws, which state that a new law created cannot be applied to those who broke it before its creation; however the addition of such consequences in the Presidential Records Act is necessary to prevent any future presidents from the same level of document destruction that Trump created.

There was no way that he did not know what he was doing was wrong, as members of the White House staff have stated there are instructional pamphlets and briefings that detail the Presidential Records Act to the sitting president. He simply disregarded the law, clearly thinking he was above it. 

The destruction of documents during Trump’s presidency is having current-day impacts on the ongoing investigation into the Jan. 6 capital riot. When the Jan. 6 committee asked for specific documents related to Trump pressuring former Vice President Mike Pence, they discovered that the records they were looking for had already been destroyed. This is yet another reason why the Presidential Records Act needs to have consequences written into it; the destruction of documents leads to a hindered ability to investigate illegal activity. 

Not only does his habit of ripping up documents prove that he was negligent in how he handled the business of the presidency, it proves that he truly does not respect those who work under him. Forcing White house staff to clean up after him the same way a spoiled child would is incredibly disrespectful. He is a grown man and yet he leaves behind messes he created for others to deal with.