Museum director ousted after refusing to give Trump a sword to gift King Charles

Todd Arrington, The Eisenhower Presidential Library's director, has left his post after after advocating against giving a sword from the collection to King Charles as a gift during Donald Trump's recent state visit, according to US media reports on Thursday.

CBS News reported that Arrington left his post on Monday after being told to "resign or be fired". The publication did not specify who had relayed the message to the historian.

The libary and museum, located in former U.S. president Dwight D Eisenhower's home town in Abilene, Kansas, is part of the National Archives and Records Adminstration (Nara).

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The historian reportedly resisted a request from the Trump adminstration to give one of Eisenhower's swords to King Charles. The gesture was meant to symbolise the US-UK relationship and highlight the two countries' collaboration in the second world war.

Eisenhower became president in 1953 and before that he helped allied forces against Nazi Germany.

The Trump adminstration eventually gave King Charles a replica sword donated by West Point, the army academy where Eisenhower began his military career.

The New York Times reported that Arrington's ouster may have also been related to discussions over plans to construct a new education centre at the Eisenhower Library.

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"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 Daily Mail on Thursday.

Arrington's resignation comes as Trump asserts an unprecedented control over US cultural institutions since his return to office in January. Arrington had a decades-long career in the federal government.

Trump has conducted mass firings of multiple traditionally nonpartisan or bipartisan boards, with his own allies taking control.