Washington: Donald Trump has unveiled plans to redevelop a public golf course in Washington into a world-class championship course, adding to the president’s list of building projects to remake the nation’s capital.
The announcement has been brewing for months and comes just a day before officials are due to testify in court regarding the removal of hundreds of trees from the golf course last weekend, prompting a judge to order a halt.
It also comes just two weeks before the midterm elections in which polls suggest Trump’s Republican Party will lose control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate, amid concerns the president is not focused on bread and butter matters for Americans.
Trump’s said the historic East Potomac Golf Links in central Washington will close on November 15 and reopen 15 months later. It will be remade from 36 holes over three courses to a single 18-hole course, designed by golf course architect Tom Fazio, capable of hosting tournaments such as the US Open or PGA championship. The new course would be open to the public, Trump said.
Currently, the peninsula occupied by the course also includes a ring road, bike path and green space used by the general public. But a blueprint shared by Trump on social media on Sunday (US time) indicated that these would be removed under his plans, as would a mini golf course.
Golfers and urban planners alike criticised the plans for replacing a beloved, accessible golf precinct with one that is likely to be more expensive, as well as for removing park space and public infrastructure enjoyed by runners, cyclists and other community members.
Save East Po, a community group opposing the redevelopment, called the plan “unacceptable” and “an absolute tragedy for so many that call our nation’s capital home”.
“The defining characteristic of Trump II is a woeful and blatant disregard for the public that the admin is supposed to serve,” the group said. “The proposed plan is an affront to any regard for public space and what public lands are actually supposed to be.”
Trump, who is a keen golfer, said the new course would create jobs and inject millions of dollars into Washington and surrounding area. As he did with the stalled redevelopment of the Kennedy Centre, he argued the existing course was in a parlous state and had to be redeveloped.
“The current course is old, broken, dilapidated, and of no further use or effect,” he wrote on Truth Social. “It is in very poor condition, with falling, dangerous and disease infested trees and, importantly, a collapsing and hazardous seawall ... it is completely overgrown, dysfunctional, and unsafe.”
The impending golf course redevelopment adds to Trump’s portfolio of Washington projects in his second term, including the White House ballroom, the refurbishment of the Lincoln Memorial’s reflecting pool, the Kennedy Centre renovation and the “Triumphal Arch”.
Like the ballroom, the golf course remake has been mired in court action brought by opponents, and the government appears to have commenced it without planning permission. Last Saturday, about 430 trees were lopped, prompting an emergency court hearing.
Government lawyers said the trees were felled in line with the recommendations of a 2019 cultural landscaping report, and that Trump had only given “preliminary thought” to the redesign – an argument judge Ana Reyes did not accept.
“It is a coincidence, the government seems to suggest, that DOI [the Interior Department] cut down hundreds of trees at the course weeks after the President asked DOI to cut down trees at the course, and not, say, any other time in the last seven years,” she wrote in a blistering 21-page opinion. “That asks rather a lot of coincidence.”
On Sunday, after Trump unveiled the course map, Reyes ordered the government to notify the court within hours whether it still wished to argue – as it had two days ago – that plans for the redevelopment were in their infancy.
Politically, Trump’s decision to unveil the golf course plans now – in the final weeks of the midterm elections – has invited further criticism that the president is out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people.
Only 11 per cent of Americans say Trump has prioritised “people like me” a lot during his second term, compared to 23 per cent who say he has heavily prioritised the country overall, and 55 per cent who say he has prioritised his own business interests or those of his family and friends.
Those results came from a poll of 2140 voters in late September by the Associated Press and National Opinion Research Centre.
“At a time when our country is at war and everyone is worried about the economy and high prices, the president simply doesn’t care,” said Democratic congressman from Virginia Don Beyer. “He’s focused on building an upscale golf course within walking distance of the White House.”
Matthew Terrill, a Republican strategist, defended Trump’s plan. “I see this as the president delivering another win for the American people,” he said. “This course is intended to remain public – the people’s course – and builds on his efforts to improve public spaces in Washington.”
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