President Donald Trump’s quest to put his stamp on the nation’s Capitol may forever change the city’s relationship with the president’s favorite pastime.
Back in 2020, the non-profit National Links Trust signed a 50-year lease with the first Trump administration’s National Park Service to operate and upgrade Washington, D.C.’s three, historic public golf courses: East Potomac, Langston, and Rock Creek.
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However, on Dec. 30, 2025, the second Trump administration terminated that agreement, clawing back control of the courses in the process. The Department of the Interior argued that NLT had missed more than $8 million in rental payments, which the non-profit disputed, but the two parties agreed to allow NLT to continue operating the courses for a transitional period, allowing players to continue using the facilities.
“We have invested over $8.5 million in capital improvement projects at the courses, including critical short-term improvements that have paid significant dividends, more than doubling rounds and revenues while keeping green fees well below the market average for area public courses,” NLT wrote in a statement. “Since our founding, the National Links Trust has had the privilege to ensure that DC’s municipal golf courses remain accessible, affordable, and welcoming to all. Our commitment remains unchanged and we will continue to pursue our mission with the support of our community for as long as we are allowed.”
But despite NLT’s agreement with the Trump administration to continue operating the D.C. courses, veteran golf journalist Garrett Johnston reported on Monday that the administration is now considering closing the courses entirely, potentially as early as Friday.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” one East Potomac golfer, a Georgetown University student who asked not to be identified, told the Washington Examiner when asked about the course’s potential shuttering on Wednesday.
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“This is basically the only place I can afford to play,” that person added in between putts on the course’s practice green. “It’s basically the best part of the city.”
NLT officials, as well as employees at East Potomac and Langston, declined to comment on Johnston’s claim. The Rock Creek course closed in the fall of 2025, as part of NLT’s planned renovations, but persons familiar with the situation told the Washington Examiner that construction at the course had halted earlier this year following the termination of NLT’s lease.
White House officials tamped down on Johnston’s report, telling the Washington Examiner that Trump has not yet made a decision on the future of the courses and pointed to an interview Trump gave to the Wall Street Journal in December, where he voiced mild frustration at the pace of NLT’s planned renovations of the D.C. courses.
“I think what we’re looking to do is just build something different, and build them in government,” Trump said at the time, promising to maintain the courses’ sub-$50 greens fees for city residents. “If we do them, we’ll do it really beautifully.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump has already moved debris from the demolition of the White House’s East Wing to the East Potomac grounds, an idea concocted by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. East Potomac, which includes a full 18-hole course and two additional 9-hole courses, would require significant land upgrades if a complete renovation were to take place, given the grounds’ relative level compared to the Potomac River’s waterline.
Burgum told WSJ that East Potomac is in “total disrepair” and that the Trump administration will bring the course “back to what it was originally envisioned to be, which is the finest municipal golf in the country, right here in our capital,” on the level with tour-caliber tracks.
Still, the Wall Street Journal noted that, unlike Trump’s Kennedy Center Revamp, the tentative title for the renovated East Potomac would not bear the Trump moniker.
Trump is an avid golfer, and he frequently spends weekends playing at his private clubs in Florida, New Jersey, and Virginia. The Trump Organization currently owns and operates 11 golf courses in the U.S., and nearly 20 around the globe. The newest course opened in Aberdeen, Scotland, last year, with greens fees in excess of $700 per round, though roughly half of the Trump Organization’s courses are open to the public and are much more affordable to play.
Beyond taking back control of D.C.’s municipal courses, the president weighed into the politics of golf on multiple occasions during his first year back in office, including pushing for a merger of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, a competitor tour launched in 2021 by Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund.