Interior Department Drafts Plan to Close Historic D.C. Golf Course After Trump Orders

The Department of the Interior is preparing a plan to close East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C., by Nov. 15, senior Justice Department officials said Wednesday. The move follows two statements from President Trump that the historic course would shut temporarily next month for a redesign.

In a brief filing with the U.S. district court, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward acknowledged the president's posts on Truth Social. Mr. Trump wrote that the course will close so it can be overhauled "for Competitive (with other such projects!), Safety, Modernization, and Aesthetic reasons." Woodward wrote that Interior, acting through counsel, is working to develop a plan to carry out that direction and will notify the court.

The filing is the latest development in a months-long legal fight over the future of East Potomac, a public course in the nation's capital that has been open since 1920. The challenge was brought by a local preservation group and two golfers.

Administration officials had previously said there was no finalized proposal to redesign and renovate the course, describing only a "possible project." Earlier this month, however, Mr. Trump announced on Truth Social that the Interior Department, led by Secretary Doug Burgum, and golf-course architect Tom Fazio had "developed a plan to build a World Class Championship Golf Course" at the site. He said the current course would close Nov. 15 so work could begin, and that the new course would open in roughly 15 months.

That announcement came after U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, who is overseeing the case, moved to stop tree removal at the course. More than 500 trees had been cut down over the span of a single weekend. On Monday, Reyes issued a decision that continued to bar the government from "removing or damaging" any trees at the site while the litigation goes on. The challengers had argued the tree felling was part of the administration's plan for the new course, and the judge agreed.

In her 70-page ruling, Reyes wrote that "rarely, if ever, has the United States Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting President." She was referring to a contentious hearing earlier this month, in which Woodward told her that despite the president's posts about an overhaul, there was "no plan to close the course."

"This started as a case about golf. That good walk spoiled," Reyes wrote, adding that the case "has become much more. It now forces the Court to reconcile assertions by President Donald J. Trump with the sworn testimony of multiple government employees and the argument of senior Department of Justice attorneys."

The Justice Department has since appealed Reyes' decision. The judge said a court hearing will be scheduled for Friday or Monday to address how the case should proceed in the coming days. The plaintiffs have not yet filed a motion asking Reyes to block the course closure and the overhaul that would follow.