Washington D.C. is at odds over one of its beloved golf courses

After months of relative quiet, the attention of President Trump’s various building projects in Washington D.C. has turned to one of the district’s municipal courses, albeit with little certainty about the administration’s official plans. 

This is the increasingly popular case of East Potomac Golf Links, a 36-hole muni property in the heart of D.C. that Trump has sought to renovate into an 18-hole championship golf course. In late June, President Trump targeted Sept. 1 as the official start date for construction on the course, and while heavy machinery arrived on-site this week, that date has now passed without much proof of significant course alterations.

Rather, upwards of 150 trees were removed in recent weeks under what was called “routine maintenance” clearing of invasive or dead trees, and more are expected to be removed. The Hains Point area has seen various protests by locals — and not just golfers — including as recently as last weekend. 

Golfers have continued using the property in recent days and operations have sustained as normal, even despite the promised construction date and occasional passes overhead by Marine One. Instead, the fate of the course has only seen updates in litigation. 

The D.C. Preservation League has been suing the Department of Interior since February to halt the administration’s actions at East Potomac Park, which allegedly include shifting access, cost and variety of golf on the man-made peninsula, not to mention its other, non-golf offerings like a public bike and running path. The League has argued against changes to the property, especially any taken without complying to the National Historic Preservation Act, which calls for a community engagement period, among other stipulations, before pressing forward on any plans. 

While the case originally earned a stay from Judge Ana C. Reyes, the judge recently challenged the Preservation League to amend and update its original complaint given various happenings at the property in recent months. Things like the design announcement in May from DOI Secretary Doug Burgum, Trump visiting the property with course designer Tom Fazio, Trump declaring a Sept. 1 construction start and Fazio’s own admissions to GOLF.com (in mid-May) that he and his team were investigating all manner of alterations.

While the court is still awaiting that amended complaint, the latest submission from the Department of Interior calls other D.C. building projects into the room. A Wednesday DOI filing suggested the recent 5-4 Supreme Court decision to allow renovations to continue at the White House Ballroom is precedent enough that anything happening at East Potomac is incidental without official, finalized course redesign plans. Immediately, the D.C. Preservation League called that filing inapposite to the golf course case, reiterating its belief that final DOI action has been decided and is already underway. 

Thusly, both sides entered Judge Reyes’ courtroom Thursday, where she reminded the parties that she is a judge, not The Lorax. “I do not speak for the trees,” she said. Reyes noted she received “countless emails and voicemails on this issue. People are pretty upset.” But in the end, little progress was made at the 30-minute hearing. An amended complaint shall be filed in the next nine days, at which point the case will move forward. 

And so, another Thursday passed in the nation’s capital much like many of the previous days — with photographers snapping pictures of tree stumps, golfers posting videos from the course and workers moving about (this time apparently removing old fence posts, according to local photographer Andrew Leyden). Whether or not it constitutes the start of something greater will be decided another day.