The Trump administration and National Links Trust have reached a deal to keep Washington D.C.’s three municipal golf courses open and affordable, while clearing the way for President Trump to remake historic East Potomac Golf Links to his liking.
As Golf Digest reported earlier this year, Trump moved to wrest control of East Potomac from the National Links Trust, the nonprofit that secured a 50-year lease during his first term to operate the three D.C. public courses. NLT’s plan called for restoring the courses’ architecture and improving services without raising costs—work to be led by some of the game’s most respected designers: Tom Doak, Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner, and Beau Welling.
Trump had other ideas. Sources tell Golf Digest the president wants to transform East Potomac, which commands sweeping views of the capital and the Potomac River, into a major championship or Ryder Cup venue, and use it as a counterargument to the golf ball rollback. As Golf Digest reported, the administration muscled onto the properties, at one point dumping demolition debris from the East Wing onto the course. On January 1, it terminated NLT’s lease on grounds one NLT official described as “genuinely one of the most ridiculous and disappointing things I’ve ever read.”
The termination left East Potomac, Langston, and Rock Creek in limbo. An advocacy group sued over environmental violations tied to the debris. Last week brought an emergency hearing after reports surfaced that East Potomac faced immediate closure. The Washington Post reported that a group called the National Garden of American Heroes Foundation had been circulating fundraising materials linked to two priorities: the National Garden of American Heroes and a “comprehensive redevelopment and restoration” of East Potomac. Meanwhile, Golf Digest had reported that Tom Fazio, designer of four Trump courses, toured East Potomac under an alias in late 2025. Public records show that same afternoon he visited the White House and stayed more than three hours.
Over the weekend, the two sides announced a settlement. The three courses remain under NLT’s jurisdiction for now, while Trump gets his redesign and Fazio will overhaul East Potomac. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum will oversee the project. The National Park Service will renovate East Potomac Golf Links and undertake broader infrastructure improvements across East Potomac Park, including rebuilding a seawall that could cost upwards of $600 million.
In a statement, NLT said: “We are pleased that Washington, DC’s municipal golf courses—East Potomac Golf Links, Langston Golf Course, and Rock Creek Park Golf—will remain open, accessible, and affordable for the residents and communities that depend on them. National Links Trust will continue operating all three courses, and we are committed to building on the progress we have made over the past five years. We are grateful that our talented and dedicated employees can now look forward with certainty about the future.
“This agreement clears the path for NLT to resume the transformative work we began five years ago. At Rock Creek Park Golf Course, we will restart construction of a new clubhouse, driving range, practice facilities, and maintenance facility as part of a restoration project that will create a lasting community asset for golfers and non-golfers alike. We will restore nine holes of the historic William Flynn-designed regulation course, create a new nine-hole par-three course and Himalayas putting green, and develop a restaurant, pollinator meadows, and an ecological trail network. This project will also significantly expand our Jack Vardaman Workforce Development Program.
“We thank President Trump for reaching an agreement that keeps Washington, DC’s three public golf courses open, welcoming, and affordable community gathering places for DC residents and all golfers. We look forward to continuing to provide our expertise in operating and managing these beloved and historic courses and to making DC proud.”
The deal came days after a federal judge ruled the administration could proceed with maintenance at East Potomac but could not shut down the course or overhaul it without proper notice.