Justice Department confirms Trump golf course renovation and Nov 15 closure

The Justice Department confirmed Wednesday night that President Donald Trump’s plans to renovate the East Potomac Golf Course are officially underway and that the park will close on Nov 15.

The National Park Service will submit a rendering by designer Tom Fazio to the National Capital Planning Commission on Oct 30. The design calls for a championship level course capable of hosting major events like the U.S. Open. The commission is scheduled to review the plan at its meeting on Dec 3.

According to the filing, the National Park Service will close the park south of Buckeye Drive on Nov 15. This closure aligns with the president’s directive. The National Links Trust, which currently operates the course, will stop operations there by the close of business on or before that date. The company will continue to manage two other public golf courses.

This filing follows a turbulent ten day period that began with a social media post by Trump on Oct 18. He stated the park would close for 15 months for renovation. That post triggered a series of court hearings in a lawsuit filed by the DC Preservation League and two golfers. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued a preliminary injunction on Oct 26. This order bars the government from removing or damaging additional trees on the course. It also requires the administration to provide ten days of written notice before making any irreversible changes to the course while the lawsuit is active.

Judge Reyes ordered Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. and a representative from the Department of the Interior to appear in court on Friday. She also requested that a person from the Interior Department’s Office of the Solicitor with prior experience on the case attend. The judge is preparing to question officials about why the president continued to announce plans that agency leaders previously said they did not know about.

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday night, Trump described the golf course as highly dangerous, dilapidated, and absolutely disgusting. He said Judge Reyes would be held responsible for anyone injured or killed at the site. He added that local golfers who have played there for years are thrilled by the renovation plans and have long asked for their home course to be brought into pristine condition.

The golf course renovation is part of a larger push by the administration to modify Washington’s historic landscape. This includes plans for a White House ballroom, a large arch, and a National Garden of American Heroes. A separate hearing is set for Friday before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan regarding the construction of a memorial arch. Plaintiffs in that case are asking for a temporary halt to work that could begin as early as Nov 5. The arch project has also drawn opposition from the Arlington County Board, which filed its own lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia earlier this month.