Trump tours East Potomac Golf Links, touts major tournament makeover

Trump spent Sunday at East Potomac Golf Links with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and golf architect Tom Fazio, pressing a plan to remake the century-old public course into a venue he said could eventually host the U.S. Open, the Ryder Cup and the PGA Championship. He said work on the project would begin Sept. 1, 2026, even as the course remains one of Washington’s few publicly owned golf properties on federal land.

East Potomac Golf Links sits on Hains Point in East Potomac Park, within National Mall and Memorial Parks, and remains open year-round. The first 18 holes were built from 1918 to 1923 and designed by Walter J. Travis. In 1941, it was part of efforts to desegregate Washington’s public golf courses. It is one of three Washington golf courses still owned by the National Park Service.

Trump’s own post criticized the grass and sprinkler system at the public course. The U.S. Golf Association has announced future U.S. Open sites through 2051, and the PGA of America has mapped out PGA Championship venues through 2035.

Debris from the demolition of the White House East Wing has been dumped on the grounds, and the National Park Service found last month that the debris tested positive for lead, chromium and other toxic metals. A National Park Service-linked report tested 44 soil samples, along with 11 baseline samples, and found lead, chromium, PCBs, pesticides, petroleum byproducts and other chemicals above laboratory reporting limits.

In U.S. District Court, National Links Trust is seeking to keep Washington’s municipal golf courses, East Potomac, Langston and Rock Creek, open, accessible and affordable for residents and the communities that use them. Trump also toured Lafayette Park and the area where he wants to build a triumphal arch, and he planned to meet Janeese Lewis George, the Democratic winner of Washington’s mayoral primary, whom he called a Communist in a separate post.