Trump Announces Plan to Rebuild DC's East Potomac Golf Links as a Championship Venue, and a Judge Wants Answers
The president says Interior and architect Tom Fazio will overhaul the public course for major tournaments. Hours later a federal judge ordered the government to say whether it stands by its court filing.
President Trump announced Sunday that he wants to turn a century-old public golf course in Washington into a venue that can host the sport's biggest events. A federal judge was already looking at the project, and she moved fast.
The course is East Potomac Golf Links, on federal land along the Potomac River near the National Mall. In a Truth Social post, Trump said the Interior Department, led by Secretary Doug Burgum, is working with golf course architect Tom Fazio on the overhaul. He said the finished course would be "open to the Public" and also "designed to the Highest Level of Golf." He listed the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup as events it could host, and said the USGA, PGA of America and PGA Tour have been notified.
The timeline in Fox's report: the existing course is expected to close Nov. 15, when restoration work on Fazio's design is set to begin, and the new course could open about 15 months later. Trump called the current course "old, broken, dilapidated" and pointed to what he described as dangerous, diseased trees and a failing seawall. He said the project would create jobs and give the Washington region an economic lift. He shared an artist's rendering with the post.
The legal wrinkle. Fox reports that Trump's post made no mention of the court fight over the property. After the announcement, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes took judicial notice of the post and ordered the government to say by 8 p.m. Sunday whether it still stands by a filing from two days earlier. That filing said "there is no final agency action" and that, at most, the president had given "preliminary thought" to rebuilding the course. She also ordered two government attorneys to appear in person for an evidentiary hearing Monday morning. Fox adds that Reyes recently paused further tree cutting at the site while the challenge plays out.
What we do not know yet: how the government answered the judge's order, and what happens at Monday's hearing. We did not find a response from the administration to the judge in the source we read, and we are not guessing at one.
Worth keeping in mind is who is speaking. The plan, the timeline and the jobs claim all come from the president's own announcement, and the condition of the course is his description. The court dispute is a separate question about whether proper process was followed.