Construction and makeover projects in and around Washington, DC remain a high priority for U.S. President Donald Trump, from a proposed White House ballroom to a “triumphal arch” near Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Another is East Potomac Golf Links; according to the Washington Post, Trump’s plans for a redevelopment of that municipal golf course appear to be “far more extensive” than federal officials “have publicly disclosed.”
The Post’s Rick Maese reports that on Sunday, Trump toured East Potomac Golf Links and was carrying what appeared to be “detailed plans” for the redevelopment.
“The plans, visible in photographs taken during Trump’s visit, seem to stretch the redesigned golf course across nearly the entire East Potomac peninsula, extending play to the shoreline,” according to Maese. “The renderings do not appear to show several of the park’s best-known public amenities, including the riverside bicycle trail, the miniature golf course and Washington’s oldest grove of cherry trees. The drawings offer the clearest glimpse yet of how the Trump administration wants to transform one of the nation’s oldest municipal golf facilities into a championship-caliber venue capable of hosting the U.S. Open, the Ryder Cup and other major tournaments.”
East Potomac Golf Links goes back to the early 1920s. Trump’s “newly visible plans” for the course, according to Maese, “raise fresh questions about the scope of the project and what parts of the heavily used public park could be altered or displaced.”
“Trump spent more than 90 minutes at East Potomac on Sunday morning, walking the property with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, golf course architect Tom Fazio and other administration officials during what is believed to have been his first visit to the waterfront course,” the Post reporter explains. “From what can be seen on the plan, the administration seems to have abandoned the short par-3 course that remained in the conceptual rendering that Burgum released in May. If built as shown, the redesign would reduce East Potomac from its current three-course, 36-hole layout to a single 18-hole championship course. It would also expand golf into roughly 50 acres of parkland now used for picnicking, fishing, cycling and other recreation.”
Ed Stierli of the National Parks Conservation Association, is sounding the alarm about Trump’s plans for the East Potomac Golf Links.
Stierli told the Post, “It’s deeply concerning to see that the president is carrying around plans that would essentially eliminate public access to (a) beloved park used by the public for fishing and recreation. This is an admin that says they want to prioritize public access for recreation, and in this case, that doesn’t seem to be what is being prioritized.”