President Donald Trump, who was accused of hoarding classified documents after his first term, has apparently moved on to coveting perhaps America’s most historic document in his second.
Trump asked his team recently about moving the Declaration of Independence into the Oval Office, The Atlantic reported Thursday, citing “people familiar with the conversation.”
His aides responded with “alarm,” the magazine wrote, because of the cost and logistics that would be involved.
The delicate animal-parchment artifact, adopted on July 4, 1776, to announce the original colonies’ separation from Great Britain, is exhibited in the National Archives Building behind sealed, heavy glass in casing that can retract into the wall for safekeeping, The Atlantic noted.
Common sense prevailed to the “relief” of advisers and Trump eventually backed down, still leaving open the possibility that a valuable copy could be relocated to the White House, according to the report.
“President Trump strongly believes that significant and historic documents that celebrate American history should be shared and put on display,” White House spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote in an email to The Atlantic.
Many observers can perhaps hold theses truths to be self-evident that Trump has an inflated sense of historical worth.
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He has often compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, but lately says he’s kidding.
