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U.S. President Donald Trump is at odds with a Washington, D.C., nonprofit entrusted with renovating three public golf courses in the nation’s capital.
Last month, a White House adviser told Front Office Sports that Tiger Woods had agreed to help with the renovation of Langston Golf Course—one of three public golf courses (alongside Rock Creek Park Golf and East Potomac Golf Links) in D.C. owned by the National Park Service, which in 2020 handed over operations of the courses to the National Links Trust (NLT), a nonprofit created in 2019, as part of a 50-year lease.
The NLT released a statement late Friday night responding to comments Trump made to The Wall Street Journal about the discord, alleging that the organization violated a lease provision, and that the courses could soon revert to the Trump Administration’s control.
“National Links Trust appreciates the President’s interest in the DC golf courses and looks forward to the opportunity to partner with the administration to improve these historically significant facilities,” the statement read. “We respectfully disagree with the characterization that we are in default of our lease. In the five years since signing the lease, National Links Trust has worked hand in hand with the National Park Service through the extensive permitting and compliance processes required for these comprehensive renovation projects.”
The NLT currently reports to the U.S. Department of the Interior, and in 2024, launched the Nation’s Capital Project, which seeks to revitalize and rehabilitate those three historic municipal golf courses. Famed golf architects Gil Hanse (Rock Creek), Beau Welling (Langston), and Tom Doak (East Potomac) have all signed on to provide pro-bono architectural services.
The Rock Creek project likely won’t be finished until 2027, and it has an estimated cost between $25 million and $35 million.
But the East Potomac Golf Links, which run along the Potomac River and have views of the Washington Monument, are what Trump is targeting. One idea is building a new course entirely on that site designed by Tom Fazio and calling it Washington National Golf Course, per the WSJ.
In October, debris from the White House’s $300 million East Wing renovation project was transported to East Potomac Golf Links.
While any Trump involvement in the D.C. golf courses would be on a government level, Trump Golf owns and operates 16 golf courses across the world.
The PGA Tour is returning to Trump National Doral next year, and Trump Turnberry in Scotland remains under consideration for hosting another future edition of the Open Championship.
