Trump's Plan to Turn Hains Point Into One Golf Course Would Close a Beloved D.C. Park for 15 Months
The administration cut down 430 trees with less than a day's notice, and a federal judge is weighing whether to stop further work.
President Trump's push to take over the East Potomac Golf Links has put a municipal Washington golf course in the national spotlight, and the people who run, bike and birdwatch there fear the city is about to lose one of its most beloved public spaces.
The southern tip of East Potomac Park, known as Hains Point, is a favorite of cyclists, runners, picnickers and birders for its waterfront views, cherry trees and Ohio Drive, a three-mile loop around the peninsula. Congress created the park in 1897 "to be forever held and used as a park for the recreation and pleasure of the people." It is also a fixture of major race courses, including the Marine Corps Marathon, which is being run Sunday, and the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-mile run, which draws roughly 20,000 participants.
Trump wrote on Truth Social last weekend that renovations would keep the entire park closed for 15 months starting in November. What would be left after that is unclear. The rendering he posted shows an 18-hole course covering the whole peninsula, including the playground and picnic area on its southern tip, and no road visible around the perimeter. His proposal would combine the park's three historic, historically affordable courses into one "championship-style" course. Trump has said it will "be open to the Public" and able to host tournaments such as the U.S. Open and PGA Championship. He has called the current course "dilapidated, and of no further use or effect," and has dubbed part of it "Trash Island."
The administration's messages have been mixed. Trump said last weekend that work would begin in mid-November, then said it would start "immediately." Government lawyers told a federal court on Monday that they were not aware of a final plan. The White House referred questions to the Department of the Interior, which did not answer NPR's questions about whether the playground, picnic area and loop road would be removed.
The government cut down 430 of the park's trees earlier this month with less than a day's notice. Critics worry that was a pretext to begin renovations. The government says it was following recommendations from a 2019 landscaping report. Judge Ana Reyes held a hearing Monday to learn more about the tree removal and to decide whether to block further work on the course.
A group called Hains Point Runners told Reyes in court and in a 35-page brief that federal law requires the National Park Service to identify and weigh the "longstanding recreational uses of the Hains Point corridor" and ways to avoid harming them before any work that would change it. "From the perspective of the running community, that did not occur here," the group's lawyers wrote.
Locals say the stakes go beyond golf. "It's such an important part of the fabric of this region," said Elizabeth Kiker, executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclists Association. Ashley Hawkins of Prince George's County, Maryland, who runs the loop every day, called the plan "one of the more king-like things that he's done so far." Cherry Blossom run director Rob Wolfe said organizers are already looking at backup routes for next spring, because the park's future is "more important than our Sunday in April."
