President Trump could use desk made in Kent

When Donald Trump returns to the White House as US president in January, he could find himself behind a desk made in Kent.

The Resolute desk is one of six that presidents have the choice of.

It was made at Chatham Dockyard from the Timbers of HMS Resolute, a Victorian ship that played a key role in the history of polar explanation.

It was part of the expedition sent in 1852 to find Sir John Franklin, who vanished while trying to find the North West Passage.

Nick Ball, collections, galleries and interpretation manager at the Historic Dockyard, Chatham, said HMS Resolute had become trapped in the ice where it was abandoned, and later found by an American whaling ship.

"They took it back to America where the American government gave it back to Queen Victoria as a gift. It was the start of the special relationship between the two countries because, for a long time, relationships had been fraught," he said.

"The ship never left England again and eventually, when it was broken up, the timbers were reused and the desk was constructed in Chatham. Queen Victoria then gave this as a gift to America."

“Most famously it was used by President Kennedy, with a famous shot of his son peering out from underneath.

“There’s another piece of Chatham history in the White House too - a pen holder made here in 2009 and given to Obama,” Mr Ball said.

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