WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has issued contracts to start work on President Donald Trump’s proposed takeover and renovation of the East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, according to Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee.
Rep. Jared Huffman of California, the committee’s ranking Democrat, disclosed the action during a hearing Wednesday. He said the National Park Service retained a civil engineering firm to begin work at the historic public course without publicly announcing the move or notifying Congress. A lawsuit contesting Trump’s redevelopment proposal argues that the plan would breach the congressional law that established the park more than 100 years ago.
“Now, this is not just any old golf course. This is a beloved public space with huge historic significance,” Huffman said.
Huffman accused Trump of “systematically moving” to transform the historically significant, publicly accessible site into “another gilded private golf club for the mega-rich.” He characterized the project as “a methodical, deliberate effort to take a public park away from the people,” while taxpayers absorb the costs.
A contract approved last week permits nearly $400,000 in work by a Massachusetts-based company on environmental compliance and historic-preservation requirements at the course, Huffman said. The Park Service has also posted a potential construction contract valued at as much as $49 million, with a solicitation expected Jan. 31, 2027.
“Democrats on this committee are tracking all of this. We’re going to keep dragging it all into the daylight until the public gets the answers we deserve,” Huffman said in a statement. “We’re not going to let Donald Trump walk off with our public lands. That park belongs to the American people, and I’m not willing to sit here and watch him simply steal it.”
The $389,355 contract went to Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., which is based in Massachusetts and maintains an office in Washington, D.C., as well as locations elsewhere in the country. It follows months of activity surrounding the park. This spring, the administration said it had reached an agreement with Fazio Golf Design to develop renovation plans. Trump has said he intends to make the course a world-class golf destination. The project is part of his broader vision for Washington, D.C., where he has demolished historic structures, altered or renamed others and kept the National Guard deployed for more than a year.
Huffman joined Maryland Reps. Jamie Raskin and Glenn Ivey, District of Columbia Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, and Virginia Rep. Don Beyer in sending a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron. The lawmakers requested all documents, communications and records related to the project.
“East Potomac Park does not belong to Donald Trump,” the lawmakers wrote. “It belongs to the American people, and it has for more than a century.”
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Representatives for the Interior Department and the National Park Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
East Potomac Park, including the East Potomac Golf Links, was created by a congressional act in 1897, which established the park for the “recreation and the pleasure of the people.” The course opened in 1919.
Trump, who has multiple projects underway in the capital city, including a $400 million White House ballroom and the soon-to-begin construction of his triumphal arch, began talking about the city’s public courses late last year.
Debris from the demolished East Wing of the White House was dumped at East Potomac, forming a three-story mound near one of its three golf courses, which remains there. The National Park Service has said that the debris tested positive for lead, chromium and other toxic metals.
“When completed, this Course will have the ability to host Major Golf Tournaments, including The U.S. Open, The Ryder Cup, The PGA Championship, and other top PGA Tour events,” Trump posted on social media in June. He said then that work was meant to begin on Sept. 1.
Some area residents fear the planned changes to the golf course risk altering the character of a place that has served Washingtonians of many stripes for more than a century. Turning the park into an upscale golf course will likely mean higher fees and a loss of public space, residents worry.
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