What to know about Trump’s new Presidio Trust appointees

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced six new members to serve on the Presidio Trust Board of Directors, replacing the previous board whose members he had dismissed last month. 

The new appointees are Trump loyalists, and most have deep ties to tech. All but one have clear Bay Area connections. They include the former top lawyer at the Department of Government Efficiency; a former board member who is also the wife of Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff; a former ambassador to Austria; and a San Francisco real estate developer. 

Naturally, there are questions about how they may view the future of one of San Francisco’s most treasured landmarks, including whether it will continue operating under its long-standing preservation focused, quasi independent governance model. 

The trust is tasked with overseeing and operating the 1,500 acre park, which is the property of the federal government.  While the trust’s mission is to preserve the Presidio as a public benefit, the former military outpost also contains thousands of market-rate homes, restaurants, hotels and a network of private offices that have increasingly drawn venture capital firms. A new ground-up housing development plan on a property once occupied by the Army’s Letterman General Hospital is expected to break ground next year. 

The future of the Presidio has seemed uncertain at times during Trump’s second term. He threatened to gut the trust in an executive order last year, framing the move as part of an effort to cut waste and inefficiencies in the federal government, despite the fact that the Trust is self-sustaining and has not received a federal appropriation in more than a decade. 

It’s unclear precisely what the board appointments might mean for the Presidio, a historical landmark since 1962 that receives 9.5 million visits each year. One is a former high-ranking official with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, the budget slashing agency Elon Musk led soon after Trump returned to office. But at least two members have suggested they don’t see a need to fundamentally reshape the Trust’s remit. Trevor Traina, the former diplomat, described the Presidio as “an amazing institution with an amazing vision,” and Lynne Benioff, who served on the board previously, said in a statement Thursday that the Trust was an “incredibly well-run organization.” 

Here’s what to know about the new members:

A fourth-generation San Franciscan and tech entrepreneur, Traina served as ambassador to Austria during Trump’s first term and made headlines for flying a Pride flag from an embassy flag pole despite objections from the White House. Before his appointment in 2018, Traina founded several Bay Area-based tech startups including CompareNet, an online shopping guide, and IfOnly, an ecommerce platform that sold high end experiences and was acquired by MasterCard in 2019. 

Traina is the son of prominent San Francisco philanthropist, arts patron and Republican donor Dede Wilsey. He served for a time on the board of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and is a collector of fine art photographs. 

In a text to the Chronicle, Traina said he grew up spending time in and around the Presidio, “listening to the 5 p.m. cannon” and “competing in high school sports” there. He said he hopes to carry forward the Presidio’s “amazing vision.” His goal on the Trust “is simply to help continue that vision into the future,” he added. 

Burnham joined xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, as general counsel late last year after a stint as the top lawyer for DOGE. The controversial initiative, part of Trump’s efforts to strip government inefficiencies and reduce waste, eliminated the jobs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors, though some of its cuts have been overturned by the courts or are in legal limbo. Musk was involved in DOGE’s initial creation but cut ties with the department last year, shortly before Burnham departed. 

At xAI, Burnham was part of the legal team that sued Colorado over a state law that sought to protect against discrimination by AI algorithms. 

During Trump’s first term, Burnham worked in the Department of Justice’s Federal Programs and Consumer Protection Branches. He also served as Senior Associate Counsel to the President in 2017 and helped potential vet judicial nominees. 

Starting in 2020, Burnham clerked for Neil Gorsuch, a conservative Supreme Court Justice appointed to the bench by Trump in 2017. Burnham has also worked for conservative-leaning corporate law firm Jones Day, first as an associate between 2010 and 2017 and then as a partner from 2021 until 2023, according to his LinkedIn.

It’s unclear whether Burnham has spent any significant amount of time in the Bay Area. He is currently based in Washington, D.C., according to his LinkedIn and X accounts. Burnham did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. 

Arrillaga-Andreessen is a philanthropist and the wife of Marc Andreessen, a venture capitalist and prominent advisor to Trump. She has taught at Stanford Business School since 2000. During the 2025-2026 school year, she taught two courses: Women in Leadership: The Power of You; and Philanthropy: Strategy, Impact & Leadership; according to the university’s course catalogue. Arrillaga-Andreessen is also the author of “Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World.”

She has held leadership positions at several philanthropic organizations and founded the Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Foundation, which “empowers, educates and equips individuals to be more strategic, impactful givers,” according to its website. She also helped found the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, a research center affiliated with the university’s graduate school of education, and the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund.

Arrillaga-Andreessen has deep ties to the Bay Area. She is the daughter of influential Silicon Valley real estate developer John Arrillaga Sr. Along with his business partner, Richard Peery, Arrillaga bought up huge swaths of what was then farmland in the South Bay, developing the land into commercial properties that would go on to house companies including Apple, Google, and Intel, according to The New York Times. Shortly before his death in 2022, Arrillaga was worth roughly $2.5 billion, according to Forbes. Arrillaga-Andreessen helped manage the family’s philanthropic giving, serving as the co-president and treasurer of the Arrillaga Foundation, founded by her father, according to her LinkedIn.

Arrillaga-Andreessen met Andreesen, the founder of several successful tech companies, in 2005. Andreessen was one of the founders of Netscape, an early web browser in the 1990s, and runs Andreessen Horowitz, a prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm. He was a Democrat until he became disenchanted with the party during President Joe Biden’s administration. Andreessen Horowitz has emerged as a major player in national politics: So far this cycle, it has spent more than $115 million on contributions to political action committees including crypto industry groups and MAGA Inc, making it the single biggest spender in the midterms, according to a New York Times analysis. 

Arrillaga-Andreessen could not be reached for comment. 

A former U.S. Marine officer-turned finance executive, Kyle Corcoran is the chief executive officer of Redpanda Data, a San Francisco-based real time data streaming platform that helps companies move and process continuous data more simply and at scale. He joined the company during a period of rapid growth as it positioned itself at the center of AI and agentic infrastructure, aiming to compete with legacy systems like Apache Kafka as a foundational layer for AI-driven applications.

Before Redpanda, Corcoran spent more than a decade at Morgan Stanley, where he advised leading public and private disruptive technology companies, according to his Linkedin. Previous reports suggest that he played a leading role in several high-profile tech IPOs, including Uber, Snap, Facebook and Twitter (now X Corp).

Corcoran is married to venture capitalist Mary D’Onofrio, who invested in cloud software and AI startups through firms including Bessemer Ventures and Crosslink Capital. She was an early backer of companies such as Anthropic and Canva. 

Corcoran’s appointment to the Presidio Trust Board, where he will serve in the Veteran’s Seat, reflects a continuity with his military background. The Presidio is a former U.S. Army post with a long military history, now repurposed as a national park and federal landmark. Corcoran served multiple deployments during his two decades in the Marine Corps., including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to his Linkedin. He also serves on the San Mateo County Veterans Commission, a role he has held since 2022, and resides in Menlo Park, public records show.

Corcoran did not directly respond to an inquiry from the Chronicle about his new role and vision for the Presidio, but provided the following statement through a spokesperson for the Trust:

“I’m honored by my appointment to the board of the Presidio Trust, which carries deep personal meaning for me both as a lifelong Bay Area resident and as a MarineI look forward to helping steward this national treasure and to representing the legacy of those who served here.”

Lynne Benioff, a philanthropist and civic leader, is the co-chair of Time Magazine, which she purchased with her husband, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, in 2018.

Marc Benioff has at times urged stronger federal intervention in what he described as San Francisco’s public safety challenges, including an infamous call for support from the National Guard last year, which triggered backlash from local officials who viewed the remarks as undermining local governance. Benioff, who has publicly praised President Trump on specific business or economic related priorities and attended White House meetings with other tech leaders, ultimately apologized for his remarks.

Now, Lynne Benioff is once again serving in a governance role on the Presidio Trust board, helping to oversee one of the country’s most prominent former military installations. She was first appointed to the Presidio Trust’s board in 2015 by former President Barack Obama, and later reappointed in 2019. She served as the board’s chair between 2021 and 2023.

Much of Lynne Benioff’s public identity is tied to the Benioff Family’s work funding healthcare, children’s services and civic initiatives across the region, often in lockstep with major institutions like UCSF. The Benioffs have also funded and supported a range of initiatives tied to homeless and public welfare in San Francisco — in 2019, they provided a $30 million gift to launch the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing initiative, a major research center focused on identifying and evaluating effective responses to homelessness, including shelter models.

The Benioffs also maintain a strong personal and philanthropic connection to Hawaii, where they own a residence and have spent significant time over the years, a shift that became more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were among the donors contributing to recovery and relief efforts following the devastating 2023 Maui wildfires. In San Francisco, the couple has long maintained a residence in the upscale Sea Cliff neighborhood.

Lynne Benioff declined to comment on her appointment to the Presidio Trust board on Friday, but has said previously that she is “honored to once again serve one of the greatest national park sites in America and so appreciative for the opportunity.” 

Real estate developer John Bickford’s private investment and development firm, Local Capital Group, is already headquartered in San Francisco’s Presidio. Now, he is charged with the national park’s long-term stewardship and financial management.

Bickford’s new role on the Presidio Board board represents a foray into public land stewardship and  a departure from his experience in private real estate development, which has been focused on acquiring underutilized properties and repositioning them through renovations or redevelopment and mixed-use planning could shape how the Presidio’s buildings are leased and maintained, and how the overall campus evolves within strict preservation guidelines.

Bickford did not return the Chronicle’s calls on Friday, but said in a statement provided by the Trust’s spokesperson that the “Presidio Trust has been a highly successful venture, converting an old Army post perched upon invaluable, pristine land into a park, residences, offices and community serving retail. I am honored to serve on the Board upon the appointment of President Trump, The collective experience and guidance of the newly established Board will ensure the Presidio remains the crown jewel of San Francisco for years to come.”

The Pacific Heights resident co-founded Local Capital Group in 2013, and has since helped to grow its portfolio to encompass $1 billion worth of assets throughout the country. Its current investments include both residential and commercial properties and developments, including the 31-building office and life sciences campus known as Marina Village along the Alameda Waterfront.