The head of the Eisenhower presidential library is pleading for his job back after he was told to resign or be fired after resisting a request from the Trump Administration to gift King Charles one of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s original swords. 

Todd Arrington, the director of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, was told Monday that he was being ousted from the position that he had held for a little more than a year – and after nearly 30 years of military and government service.

‘I’m very sad and upset, and frankly devastated, and I have tried to reach out to higher-ups in the National Archives to basically say, I will do whatever it takes to reverse this,’ Arrington told the Daily Mail in a phone interview on Thursday. ‘I will personally apologize to anyone who needs to be apologized to.’ 

Arrington said he had been approached by the State Department’s foreign gifts unit ahead of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump‘s unprecedented second state visit with the British royal family last month. 

In the initial conversation, the State Department official told Arrington that they were looking for a ‘sword or something’ to be gifted to King Charles. 

During World War II, Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander for the Allied forces and an Eisenhower-related gift would honor the strong ties between the U.S. and the U.K. 

‘The person I talked to there was lovely and polite and friendly and totally understanding of me saying, “I can’t give you an artifact out of our museum, but I can help you find something else,”‘ Arrington said. 

Trump ended up gifting Charles a reproduction of Eisenhower’s West Point official saber. 

The gift that President Donald Trump (left) gave King Charles ( center left) during last month’s state visit has cost the director of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Todd Arrington (right), his job 

The East Wing told the Daily Mail that it was the president, not the first lady, who determined what would be given to the King. 

In most cases, the first lady selects these gifts and did so for Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Kate during last month’s trip to the U.K. 

For Camilla, the first lady chose a Tiffany & Co. brooch featuring both of their birthstones. 

On the day the gifts were given, Arrington said he heard from one of his superiors at the National Archives, which oversees the presidential library system.

‘She sent me a message just saying, “Hey, the sword’s been given from the president to the king. Everything’s good, and thanks for all of your help on this,”‘ Arrington recalled, declining to give the National Archives official’s name.

Arrington walked away from the experience thinking that it was ‘a very neat, cool, fun thing to be involved with.’ 

On Monday, he was informed that his job was gone and that he was characterized as a leaker.

He said the forced resignation was over, ‘talking to colleagues about the request for a sword.’ 

‘And being told that I could no longer be trusted with confidential information,’ he added.

‘It was never told to me that anything about the sword conversation was confidential until after the fact,’ Arrington said. 

General Dwight D. Eisenhower (left) is seen with a sword during a trip to Paris in 1945. The State Department requested one of Eisenhower’s swords to be used as a gift from President Donald Trump to be given to King Charles during the state visit last month 

He added that he had only discussed the sword with National Archives colleagues and never the press – something that has gotten other officials ousted by Trump administration figures in the past. 

CBS News first reported Arrington’s resignation, connecting it to the library head’s refusal to hand over the sword to be used as the gift.

Sources told CBS News that some in the Trump Administration were unhappy with Arrington, and one administration official said Arrington was believed to have spoken negatively about the president and his administration. 

Arrington denied criticizing the administration during his interview with the Daily Mail. 

‘Never have I ever been accused of, or reprimanded for, or even talked to about, keeping political opinions to myself,’ he said.  

Spokespeople for the White House, State Department, National Archives and Eisenhower Presidential Library did not respond to the Daily Mail’s requests for comment – with the shutdown impacting press operations throughout the federal government.