{"id":933779,"date":"2026-10-19T13:24:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T13:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/933779\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T13:24:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T13:24:35","slug":"trump-reveals-plans-to-develop-public-golf-precinct-into-championship-golf-course-amid-us-midterms-reckoning-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/933779\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump reveals plans to develop public golf precinct into championship golf course amid US midterms reckoning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Michael<\/p>\n

October 19, 2026 \u2014 11:30am<\/p>\n

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Washington: Donald Trump has unveiled plans to redevelop a public golf course in Washington into a world-class championship course, adding to the president\u2019s list of building projects to remake the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

The announcement has been brewing for months and comes just a day before officials are due to testify in court regarding the removal of hundreds of trees from the golf course last weekend<\/a>, which prompted a judge to order a halt.<\/p>\n

\"EastEast Potomac Golf Links, which has become a makeshift dump site containing soil and debris from the East Wing of the White House.Bloomberg<\/p>\n

It also comes just two weeks before the midterm elections in which polls suggest<\/a> Trump\u2019s Republican Party will lose control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate, amid concerns the president is not focused on bread and butter matters for Americans.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s said the historic East Potomac Golf Links in central Washington will close on November 15 and reopen 15 months later. It will be remade from 36 holes over three courses to a single 18-hole course, designed by golf course architect Tom Fazio, capable of hosting tournaments such as the US Open or PGA championship. The new course would be open to the public, Trump said.<\/p>\n

Currently, the peninsula occupied by the course includes a ring road, bike path and green space used by the public. But a blueprint shared by Trump on social media on Sunday (US time) indicated that these would be removed under his plans, as would a mini golf course.<\/p>\n

Golfers and urban planners alike criticised the plans for replacing a beloved, accessible golf precinct with one that is likely to be more expensive, as well as for removing park space and public infrastructure enjoyed by runners, cyclists and other community members.<\/p>\n

\"USUS President Donald Trump, an avid golfer, at the Presidents Cup golfing tournament in Illinois last month.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Save East Po, a community group opposing the redevelopment, called the plan \u201cunacceptable\u201d and \u201can absolute tragedy for so many that call our nation\u2019s capital home\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defining characteristic of Trump II is a woeful and blatant disregard for the public that the admin is supposed to serve,\u201d the group said. \u201cThe proposed plan is an affront to any regard for public space and what public lands are actually supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA blueprint of the redevelopment plans for East Potomac Links golf course in Washington, published to social media by Donald Trump.Internet<\/p>\n

Trump, who is a keen golfer, said the new course would create jobs and inject millions of dollars into Washington and the surrounding area. As he did with the stalled redevelopment of the Kennedy Centre, he argued the existing course was in a parlous state and had to be redeveloped.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current course is old, broken, dilapidated, and of no further use or effect,\u201d he wrote on Truth Social. \u201cIt is in very poor condition, with falling, dangerous and disease infested trees and, importantly, a collapsing and hazardous seawall … it is completely overgrown, dysfunctional, and unsafe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The impending golf course redevelopment adds to Trump\u2019s portfolio of Washington projects in his second term, including the White House ballroom<\/a>, the refurbishment of the Lincoln Memorial\u2019s reflecting pool<\/a>, the Kennedy Centre renovation<\/a> and the \u201cTriumphal Arch\u201d.<\/p>\n

Like the ballroom, the golf course remake has been mired in court action brought by opponents, and the government appears to have commenced it without planning permission. Earlier this month, about 430 trees were lopped, prompting an emergency court hearing.<\/p>\n

Government lawyers said the trees were felled in line with the recommendations of a 2019 cultural landscaping report, and that Trump had only given \u201cpreliminary thought\u201d to the redesign \u2013 an argument Judge Ana Reyes did not accept.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a coincidence, the government seems to suggest, that DOI [the Interior Department] cut down hundreds of trees at the course weeks after the President asked DOI to cut down trees at the course, and not, say, any other time in the last seven years,\u201d she wrote in a blistering 21-page opinion. \u201cThat asks rather a lot of coincidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AboutAbout 430 trees were chopped down at the East Potomac Golf Links earlier this month.AP<\/p>\n

On Sunday, after Trump unveiled the course map, Reyes ordered the government to notify the court within hours whether it still wished to argue \u2013 as it had two days ago \u2013 that plans for the redevelopment were in their infancy.<\/p>\n

Politically, Trump\u2019s decision to unveil the golf course plans now \u2013 in the final weeks of the midterm elections \u2013 has invited further criticism that the president is out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people.<\/p>\n

Only 11 per cent of Americans say Trump has prioritised \u201cpeople like me\u201d a lot during his second term, compared to 23 per cent who say he has heavily prioritised the country overall, and 55 per cent who say he has prioritised his own business interests or those of his family and friends.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Donald<\/a><\/p>\n

Those results came from a poll of 2140 voters<\/a> in late September by the Associated Press and National Opinion Research Centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a time when our country is at war and everyone is worried about the economy and high prices, the president simply doesn\u2019t care,\u201d said Democratic congressman from Virginia Don Beyer. \u201cHe\u2019s focused on building an upscale golf course within walking distance of the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthew Terrill, a Republican strategist, defended Trump\u2019s plan. \u201cI see this as the president delivering another win for the American people,\u201d he said. \u201cThis course is intended to remain public \u2013 the people\u2019s course \u2013 and builds on his efforts to improve public spaces in Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what\u2019s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Close\"MichaelMichael Koziol<\/a> is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"October 19, 2026 \u2014 11:30am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":933780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-933779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=933779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/933780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=933779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=933779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=933779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}