"WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has awarded contracts to begin work on President Donald Trump’s planned takeover of the East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee said Wednesday.
Rep. Jared Huffman of California, the panel’s top Democrat, revealed during a committee hearing that the National Park Service hired a civil engineering firm to begin work on the historic public golf course, without any public announcement or heads-up to Congress. A lawsuit challenging Trump’s plan to revamp the golf course argues that the administration’s redevelopment would violate the congressional act that created the park more than a century ago.
“Now, this is not just any old golf course. This is a beloved public space with huge historic significance,” Huffman said.
Trump is “systematically moving to take this historic, publicly accessible resource and turn it into another gilded private golf club for the mega-rich,” Huffman said, calling the project “a methodical, deliberate effort to take a public park away from the people,” with American taxpayers footing the bill."
Matthew Daly reports for the Associated Press September 16, 2026.
