You May Also Like
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump bulldozed hundreds of trees at the East Potomac Golf Links as part of what the administration claims is standard maintenance. Despite a federal judge’s timely intervention halting the renovation, the president has already moved forward with his next step to close the course on Nov. 15. When it reopens, Trump plans for the cite to be a championship venue built to host the U.S. Open, rather than an accessible green space for all members of the District to use. East Potomac sits just south of the Tidal Basin, in a prime location in the shadow of the Washington Monument, yet Trump has taken to disrespecting the site by calling it “Trash Island.” Historic sites like it are a big part of why I chose to come to GW. I wanted to live in a city whose landmarks and green spaces felt open to everyone. However, as a first-year student, I feel as though Trump’s renovations are taking that city away, and East Potomac is the latest piece to go.
I remember walking the path along the Tidal Basin and seeing the lush, green golf course across the water. I pictured bringing my parents, both avid golfers, to play a round with me, even though I’m a mediocre golfer at best. That felt possible because the course was built for every kind of golfer, not just the pros. But now because of Trump’s renovations, I’m not so sure the course will be open for all to play. When I visited Foggy Bottom for a school trip this February, it was jarring to see all the changes Trump had made to D.C. Then on the same trip I saw National Guard troops in uniform, watching people come and go. I’d never seen that in D.C. before. The troops have now been here over a year, and their presence, which was so unprecedented last summer, has become just another part of the D.C. landscape. Their deployment is now set to run through the end of his term in January 2029, meaning they’ll be here for most of my college career. It feels unsettling to spend three years around people whose job it is to watch me, and I resent that my first taste of independence will come under the eye of armed troops.
The D.C. I knew before coming to GW as a first-year felt open. I used to tour the monuments freely without passing a single gate or wondering whether I was allowed to be somewhere. The whole place felt like mine to explore, and that’s part of why I chose GW. But then last year, I watched from a distance as Trump tore down the East Wing of the White House and pushed for the closure of the Kennedy Center. Moving into GW this fall, I walked down to the National Mall expecting the view I’d grown up with. Instead, I passed guard patrols and such heavy construction that the historic Reflecting Pool was nowhere in sight. At a club meeting during my first week on campus, officers of the club briefed me on how to interact with the guard and what my rights were if I was stopped. I looked around the room of 18-year-olds taking notes on how to handle soldiers in our new home, and I thought about how crazy this was.
That’s why the news about East Potomac Park was especially difficult to hear. It’s one of the few places that still feels the way D.C. used to: open, a little worn down and made for anyone. Trump’s new renovation plan is more than a facelift. Congress created the park in 1897 for the “recreation and the pleasure of the people,” and until now the course has lived up to that purpose. It’s one of the cheapest places to golf in the region, and it’s on the National Register of Historical Places, partly because it integrated in the 1940s, when most American courses wouldn’t let Black golfers in. Today, it holds three courses for different skill levels as well as mini golf, the Hains Point bike loop and cherry trees along the water. The administration would replace all three courses with one championship layout, dropping the smaller course and bike trails to make room, at a cost of up to $49 million. Nobody has said what playing a round will cost, but it’s hard to imagine a Ryder Cup course charging beginner prices.
Much of this has happened in the dark without notifying the community nor seeking its input. The National Park Service hired contractors without notice, and senators from Virginia and Maryland say they still can’t get basic answers about the specific plans for the renovation. Meanwhile, a three-story mound of East Wing debris that tested positive for lead still sits on the course. The D.C. Preservation League and two local golfers have sued, arguing the overhaul violates the 1897 law that created East Potomac Park and required it to be “forever held and used as a park for the recreation and pleasure of the people.” After the trees fell on Oct. 10 and 11, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes halted tree-cutting through Oct. 26, and at a marathon hearing last week, she said the government’s story suggested bad faith. Trump responded by calling her a “crazed lunatic” in a Truth Social post and pressing ahead with the closure anyway.
East Potomac isn’t the only case of this administration reshaping a public landmark without public input. Preservationists and historians have also raised alarms over the demolition of the East Wing of the White House and Trump’s planned triumphal arch near Memorial Circle, warning that the administration is rushing past the reviews meant to give the public a say. That’s what concerns me most. It isn’t any single building or golf course, but that the administration is making decisions about shared public spaces without input from the people who use them. Trump will be in office for only a few more years, but a demolished wing, a new arch and a championship course will last far longer.
While the district judge’s order matters, it is important for students at GW to apply public pressure as well. Use the park before Nov. 15. Play a round or ride Hains Point. The lawsuits challenging the project rest on proof that real people depend on this place. Call your home-state representatives. D.C. has no voting member in Congress, but most GW students do, and those lawmakers oversee the Interior Department and NPS. Tell them a national park shouldn’t be remade without public review. Write to NPS. Projects on historic federal land typically require preservation review with public input. Demand that such a review take place before anything closes. The federal courthouse is a short Metro ride away, and hearings are open to the public. Show up or sign letters with fellow students. I spent years watching D.C. change from the sidelines. Now I live here, and I still want to play that round with my parents. East Potomac is a fight we can still win, and it’s worth showing up for.
Taylor Malec, a first-year, is an opinions writer.
