President Donald Trump is moving forward with plans to replace a century-old public golf course near the White House with what the Department of the Interior is calling a "world-class" facility, setting up a legal showdown with D.C. residents and advocacy groups who cherish the land for far different purposes.
The administration announced that construction would break ground on September 1, barring federal court intervention. The proposed course would occupy a prime location just over a mile from the White House South Lawn, featuring views of the Potomac River and the Washington Monument, and sitting amid a landscape of historic Japanese cherry trees.
What the Trump administration sees as an opportunity, many Washingtonians view as a loss. The existing East Potomac Park Golf Course serves golfers of all skill levels, charging around $28 for nine holes. Casual players, weekend duffers, bicyclists, joggers, and picnickers have all relied on the public space for recreation and leisure.
"The courses are dynamic, they're diverse," said Cesar Romero, a golfer at the facility, speaking to NBC News. "Right now we're playing nine holes for about $28, and that, for a golf course, if you look around, is really a great price."
Joanne Gribler, a bicyclist who uses the park multiple times a week, expressed frustration at losing access to a space central to her life in the capital. "There are world championship golf courses in the area. We don't need another one right here in D.C.," she said.
The White House has not released formal plans for the new course or submitted designs to the National Capital Planning Commission or the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, the federal agencies required to approve such projects. The tight timeline makes review difficult, since neither agency has scheduled meetings before the September 1 groundbreaking date.
Trump visited the site recently with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Tom Fazio, the renowned golf course designer behind several Trump-owned courses, including the one at his Bedminster, New Jersey estate. Fazio initially resisted the project due to regulatory hurdles but reconsidered after viewing the location and its commanding vistas.
In court filings, the administration acknowledged receiving design renderings from Fazio Design but stated that the intellectual property belongs to the design firm, effectively withholding the plans from public view.
A legal challenge led by the D.C. Preservation League is underway. During a recent hearing, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes expressed skepticism about the government's claims that required deliberations are still ongoing. She pressed the Justice Department's lawyer Michael Robertson on how the process could be anything but final when the president himself was on site declaring the transformation would begin by September 1.
"How do I know that there's not been a final agency action?" Reyes asked, noting Trump's statements with Interior Secretary Burgum about changing "the entire thing" with an architect's help.
The judge's skepticism ran deeper when she referenced other controversial construction decisions made by the Trump administration. "I don't want another demolished East Wing; I don't want another demolished Reflecting Pool," she said, expressing concern about what might happen without judicial oversight. "Where will I have comfort that we're not sending in bulldozers in the dark of night to chop down cherry trees?"
While Reyes rejected the government's motion to dismiss the case, she also declined to issue an immediate injunction blocking the project, saying she was unsure she had authority to direct executive action. She ordered both sides to determine whether the Interior secretary had issued any formal order to begin construction.
The government responded that no order has been issued and no final decisions made. However, evidence of activity already exists. Several months ago, a large pile of rubble appeared on the ninth and fourth holes, revealed to be debris from excavation of the East Wing that had been deposited on the golf course. The National Park Service tested the material and found it contains toxic metals. The mound has since been covered with grass.
Elizabeth Kiker, executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, questioned the lack of transparency about the project's scope and impact. "We love the space and we love the land as it is. And if there is a change and you're going to make it a public space better somehow for us all, why can't we see it?"
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The administration's rush to break ground before legal review is complete suggests confidence in executive authority, but the judge's pointed questions about bulldozers and demolished pools hint at real appetite for judicial restraint on this one."
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