News
Trump says East Potomac will close on 15 November for 15 months
Two days after government lawyers told a court he had given the redesign only "preliminary thought", the president set a closure date. The judge has asked whether the government's position has changed.
On Friday, government lawyers told the federal judge Ana Reyes that “at most” President Trump had given “preliminary thought” to redeveloping East Potomac Golf Links, and that “there is no final agency action”. On Sunday he posted on Truth Social that the public course in Washington DC would close on 15 November and reopen in about 15 months.
Reyes ordered the government to tell her by 8pm Eastern on Sunday (1am on Monday in the UK) whether its position had changed, the Associated Press reported. Her order barring any more tree felling at the course runs until at least 26 October. Over the weekend the DC Preservation League and two golfers, who brought the case, asked her for a longer-lasting injunction or a stay.
According to GOLF.com, the post credited the plan to Doug Burgum’s Interior Department and the architect Tom Fazio. Trump called the present course “old, broken, dilapidated, and of no further use or effect” and wrote that the new one would be open to the public and fit to stage the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup. He did not mention the court case. He had previously said work on the Blue course would start on 1 September; it did not, GOLF.com reported.
The rendering attached to the post shows a single 18-hole course running from shore to shore across Hains Point, with a new clubhouse, a large driving range and a practice area. It leaves out Ohio Drive, the grove of cherry trees beside the road and the mini-golf course. The site now holds the 18-hole Blue course, the nine-hole White, the nine-hole par-3 Red, a two-tier range and a clubhouse. It handled 124,500 rounds in 2025, more than any other course in the Washington area, according to GOLF.com.
Sources
- GOLF.com: As legal battle rages, President Trump sets date to close East Potomac
- PBS News (Associated Press): Trump says he will close historic D.C. golf course for 15 months of renovations
- ABC News (Associated Press): Trump says he will close historic DC golf course for 15 months of renovations
- Forbes: Trump shuttering popular D.C. golf course for 15-month renovation
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