Future control of Washington D.C.’s three municipal golf courses is in limbo amid the Trump administration’s attempt to make its mark on the city’s public spaces.
Since 2020, East Potomac, Rock Creek and Langston golf courses have been operated by National Links Trust, a nonprofit seeking to renovate the courses and provide affordable, accessible public golf in the city. The organization holds a 50-year lease with the National Park Service to rehabilitate land that has long needed attention.
That lease is now in question.
The Trump administration, via the Interior Department, has issued a formal notice of default, claiming the nonprofit is in violation of the deal and openly threatening to seize control of the properties.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Friday, President Donald Trump said National Links Trust has until the end of the month to address alleged violations of the lease, or the courses will come under the administration’s control. Trump told the Journal he is uninterested in working with the group.
“I think what we’re looking to do is just build something different,” Trump told the Journal, “and build them in government.”
The administration told the Wall Street Journal that National Links Trust isn’t following a fast enough timeline for its renovation projects, and is therefore in breach of its lease agreement. But the lease’s “Initial Improvements” section, obtained by The Athletic, states that National Links Trust’s timelines are “general and subject to change due to compliance timeframes or other circumstances.”
Work to date has involved fundraising as well as preparing the sites, including removing invasive vegetation and some tree removal. A miniature golf course has been completed at East Potomac.
In a statement Friday night, National Links Trust disagreed with the assertion that it is not upholding the lease and said it’s hoping to work with the administration on the projects.
“National Links Trust appreciates the President’s interest in the DC golf course and looks forward to the opportunity to partner with the administration to improve these historically significant facilities,” the NLT statement said. “We respectfully disagree with the characterization that we are in default of our lease.”
According to a source with knowledge of communication between National Links Trust and the administration, granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, the nonprofit has presented “numerous proposals” to partner with the administration in the redevelopment projects but received a “total lack of response to that outreach.”
The National Park Service and the Department of the Interior did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A message left with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was not returned.
The National Links Trust declined to comment beyond its statement.
The Trump administration’s interest in Washington’s public golf courses is part of a larger plan to revamp the capital’s footprint, including the controversial construction of a new 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the now-demolished site of the East Wing.
In late October, following the demolition of the East Wing, truckloads of dirt and debris from the worksite were hauled to East Potomac and dumped on the course, the first sign of the administration’s inroads onto the property.
East Potomac is believed to be at the center of Trump’s attention. The 36-hole facility is the closest golf course to the White House and Capitol Hill, and sits between the Potomac River and the Washington Channel. At the heart of the property is the Blue Course, a reversible Walter Travis design dating to 1918. The course, with its history, location and clear views of the Washington Monument, has limitless potential. It is also rife with issues, including significant drainage problems and a seawall needing extensive repairs.
Such issues, and the exhaustive work and fundraising they require, were primary factors in the Park Service’s initial decision to enter into the original agreement with National Links Trust.
The organization was founded in 2019 by golf industry professionals Mike McCartin and Will Smith with the goal of advancing municipal golf across the United States. The D.C. revitalization project, known as the “Nation’s Capital Project,” is National Links Trust’s first major undertaking. The Park in West Palm Beach, Fla., and Cobbs Creek Golf Course in Philadelphia are two recent examples of golf facilities created under similar models, with private funding used to advance public golf.
Prominent golf course architects, including Gil Hanse, Tom Doak and Beau Welling, have pledged pro bono services to help the National Links Trust’s restoration efforts in D.C. Now five years into the agreement, work is underway at Rock Creek Park, one of the oldest public golf courses in the country. The course closed for construction on Nov. 17.
Next in line for work is Langston Golf Course, a property opened in 1939 as a course available to Black golfers during the Jim Crow Era. In November, Ed Russo, chairman of the White House Environmental Advisory Task Force, told Front Office Sports that he is responsible for redesigning Langston and that Tiger Woods has agreed to help with the renovation. A call to Russo was not immediately returned Saturday.
In addition to potentially intervening at Washington’s three municipal courses, Trump recently tapped golf legend Jack Nicklaus to restore two courses at Joint Base Andrews, the military installation roughly 20 miles from the White House.
As part of a 21-property portfolio, Trump Golf owns and operates Trump National Golf Club Washington, D.C., about 30 miles west of the White House, in Potomac Falls, Va. The property runs along the Potomac River, includes two 18-hole courses and is billed as “Northern Virginia’s top-ranked private golf club.”
East Potomac’s “Blue” course greens fees range from $42-$48 in peak season.
