President Donald Trump has plans to spread the waste from his demolition of the White House’s East Wing to a new passion project in Washington.
The 79-year-old golf fanatic—who has hit the links for 23.5 percent of his second presidency—is reportedly planning on using leftover dirt from the East Wing to “beautifully” renovate D.C.’s public golf courses.
While the plan originally focused on just filling in East Potomac Golf Links as a means of finally getting the dirt off his hands, Trump’s scope has since expanded to include all of Washington’s public greens, which he has now hinted might end up falling under his purview along the way.
Donald Trump’s latest fixation is redoing Washington’s public golf courses “beautifully,” despite his vested interest in his own private clubs. / ANDY BUCHANAN / ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images
According to the Wall Street Journal, Doug Burgum was responsible for putting Trump’s new passion project in his head.
The interior secretary told the outlet that the president wants to renovate the East Potomac course “back to what it was originally envisioned to be, which is the finest municipal golf in the country, right here in our capital.”
Meanwhile, Trump himself pluralized his intentions and suggested that he was looking to spruce up all the public greens in D.C., which include Rock Creek Park Golf and Langston Golf Course. “If we do them, we’ll do it really beautifully,” he said.
The president has been wondering what to do with the dirt that was once the East Wing. The answer, as it is so often, appears to be golf. / Andrew Leyden/Getty
At present, the public courses are owned by the non-profit National Links Trust. Trump himself owns the private Trump National Golf Club in the area.
The group has managed to keep golfing prices low for DC golfers during its 50-year lease to restore and run the courses. But, as Trump’s interest in the courses has risen, the National Links Trust’s lease has fallen under threat.
The Interior Department has told the group that it has fallen behind on promised renovations and has served a default notice that could cost the trust its lease.
The public courses in Washington, D.C., are run by the National Links Trust, but Trump has hinted that if he uses the dirt to renovate, he might boot the Trust out of its lease. / Cliff Hawkins
A spokesperson told the WSJ: “National Links Trust respectfully disagrees with the characterization that we are in default.”
“National Links Trust appreciates the president’s interest in the D.C. golf courses and looks forward to the opportunity to partner with the administration to improve these historically significant facilities.”
The trust is seeking to retain control of the public courses, having presented Trump and the Interior Department with a very on-brand “Make DC Golf Great Again” plan.
Despite the MAGA-esque name of the proposal and the statement of a desire to “partner” with the Trump administration, it seems the president has his heart set on elbowing the trust out and taking over the courses himself.
Trump is also busy renovating golf courses at Joint Base Andrews, alongside painting the White House gold, building his ballroom, and working on a new NFL stadium. / JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
“I think what we’re looking to do is just build something different, and build them in government,” Trump said.
Adding D.C.’s public courses to his property portfolio would be another jewel in Trump’s crown.
The president already owns a chain of private golf clubs and hotels, has a $300 million ballroom project in the works, is working on renovating golf courses at Joint Base Andrews, and is attempting to get a Washington NFL stadium named after him—but it seems he’s not quite done with vanity projects yet.
