Donald Trump rolled out a big plan for East Potomac Golf Links, promising to turn the historic public course in Washington, D.C., into a top-tier championship venue with national prestige. The proposal has already stirred legal questions, tree-removal disputes, and fresh attention from the courts, all while Trump pushes the idea as a boost for the city and the sport.
Trump said the Department of the Interior, under Secretary Doug Burgum, is working with course designer Tom Fazio on the overhaul. The course sits on federally owned land at East Potomac Park, near the National Mall and the Potomac River, which gives the project a backdrop that is hard to miss.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “When completed, it will be open to the Public while, at the same time, designed to the Highest Level of Golf,” framing the project as both upscale and accessible. He also said the renovated layout could be good enough to host the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, Ryder Cup, and Presidents Cup.
Trump said the U.S. Golf Association, PGA of America, and PGA Tour have already been informed. That kind of claim puts the project in rare air, since those events usually demand elite conditions, a polished setting, and a strong operational pitch.
The course is expected to shut down Nov. 15 so the restoration work can begin, with Trump saying the new version could open about 15 months later. He described the existing property in harsh terms, calling it “old, broken, dilapidated” and arguing that the land deserves a major upgrade.
He also pointed to what he sees as practical reasons for the rebuild, including job creation and a wider economic lift for Washington and the surrounding area. Trump has long tied golf projects to broader development arguments, especially when the location carries both symbolic and commercial weight.
The public course has been part of Washington’s golf landscape for more than a century, and the setting alone makes any change feel loaded. It has views of some of the city’s most recognizable landmarks, which is part of why the redesign has attracted so much attention so fast.
Not everyone is cheering the move. Judge Ana Reyes took notice of Trump’s announcement and pressed the government to explain whether it still stood by a court filing saying there was “no final agency action” and that Trump had only given “preliminary thought” to rebuilding the course.
Reyes also ordered two government lawyers who have appeared in the case to show up in person for an evidentiary hearing Monday morning. That added a sharp legal edge to an announcement that Trump presented as a straightforward vision for a premier golf destination.
Another flashpoint has been the tree work tied to the property. Reyes recently paused additional tree cutting while the legal fight plays out, signaling that the project’s environmental and administrative questions are not going away quietly.
Trump has made clear he views the site as badly underused and overdue for a makeover. He said the overhaul would restore views of Washington and create what he expects to be “one of the Best and Most Spectacular Golf Courses anywhere in the World.”
The broader pitch is classic Trump: turn something aging into something flashy, expensive, and impossible to ignore. With Fazio designing the course and the White House orbit of politics, golf, and public land all colliding at once, East Potomac is suddenly much more than a neighborhood round.
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More Jobs in DC Non Govt for tourism too.