Trump Unveils Plan to Turn Historic DC Golf Course into Championship Venue
US President Donald Trump has announced plans to transform Washington, D.C.'s historic public golf course, East Potomac Golf Links, into a world-class championship venue. He said that once redesigned, the course would be capable of hosting major tournaments such as the U.S. Open.
Trump said on Sunday that the Department of the Interior, led by Secretary Doug Burgum, is working with famed golf course architect Tom Fazio to overhaul the course, which sits along the Potomac River near the National Mall.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said that when completed, the course will be open to the public while at the same time being designed to the highest level of golf. He said the redesigned course would be capable of hosting events including the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup.
Trump said the United States Golf Association, the PGA of America and the PGA Tour have already been notified of the plans. He vowed the project would create jobs and deliver an economic boost to Washington and the surrounding region.
Under the plan, the existing course is expected to close on November 15, when restoration work on Fazio's design is slated to begin. Trump said the new course could open approximately 15 months later. His post included an artist's rendering of the proposed redesign.
Trump did not acknowledge the ongoing legal fight in his post, however. Hours after the announcement, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes took judicial notice of the Truth Social post and ordered the government to clarify by 8 p.m. Sunday whether it still stood by its position in a court filing two days earlier — that there is no final agency action and that, at most, Trump had given preliminary thought to rebuilding the course.
Reyes also ordered two government attorneys who have appeared in the case to attend an evidentiary hearing in person on Monday morning.
Trump, meanwhile, sharply criticized the condition of the existing course, calling it old, broken and dilapidated, and pointing to what he described as dangerous and diseased trees and a deteriorating seawall.
East Potomac Golf Links sits on federally owned land at East Potomac Park and has been part of Washington's public golf scene for more than a century. The redevelopment has also drawn scrutiny over tree removal at the site, and Reyes recently temporarily halted additional tree cutting amid a legal challenge over work at the property.
Trump said the overhaul would restore views of Washington while creating what he predicted would become one of the best and most spectacular golf courses anywhere in the world.
Trump, an avid golfer, has long maintained a personal and business interest in the sport through his portfolio of golf properties. Attention now turns to how the project proceeds through formal approvals and the legal process.
