President Donald Trump announced in a Truth Social article Sunday that the administration has developed a plan to redevelop the East Potomac Golf Links course in Washington, D.C., which has been at the center of a legal battle over its renovation plans.
Trump said the Interior Department worked with golf course architect Tom Fazio to develop “a plan to build a world-class championship golf course on the site of what is now the East Potomac Golf Links, located in Washington, D.C..”
“When completed, it will be open to the public while being designed for the highest level of golf and capable of hosting world-class tournaments such as the US Open, PGA Championship, Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup,” Trump said in his message.
He said renovations would begin Nov. 15 and last about 15 months.
The proposed renovation, however, has already been challenged in court by a preservation group and two Washington DC residents.
Following Trump’s post on Truth Social, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes ordered the administration to advise whether it still planned to argue that there was no “final agency action” remaining and that Trump’s plan to rebuild the East Potomac Golf Course was purely “preliminary.”
Justice Department lawyers have long argued that any plans to turn East Potomac into a championship-style golf course were merely hypothetical and not based on any formal plans.
National Park Service officials also told Reyes last week that they were not aware of any formal plans to renovate the East Potomac beyond what they had seen in previous social media posts from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Trump.
Last week, Reyes banned the administration from cutting down more trees on the route until October 26. The administration had cut down hundreds of trees on the course, prompting Reyes to fight back, saying she was “furious.”
“I was hearing from all the complainants that this was going to happen. I said repeatedly, ‘No, I trust the government.’ I trusted you not to do exactly what you did,” Reyes responded.
She also said that this incident “cost the government all its credibility”.
Reyes said the administration must provide him and the plaintiffs with three business days’ written notice before making any “irreparable changes” to the golf course. The judge previously denied the plaintiffs’ request for a restraining order because Trump administration lawyers said they would provide ample notice of large-scale construction.
On Friday, the administration asked Reyes to recuse herself from the case, arguing that her “histrionic actions in previous hearings clearly demonstrated that she was no longer impartial.”
The judge will hold a hearing Monday in which she summons the acting director of the National Park Service and the chief of staff of the Interior Department to testify under oath. Reyes also requested Sunday that Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward attend the hearing.
In Sunday’s Truth Social message, Trump said “the current course is old, broken, dilapidated and of no use or effect.”
The renovation of the golf course is the latest in a series of major changes the president has attempted to make to the landscape of Washington, DC. He continues to build the White House ballroom and has advanced plans to build a “triumph arch.” Its hand-picked Kennedy Center board also voted to close the famed arts center for renovation, and the administration decided to renovate the Lincoln Memorial’s reflecting pool, even though the coating eventually peeled off.
Gn usa
