President Donald Trump announced Oct. 18, 2026, that the federal government is pursuing a major redesign of East Potomac Golf Links, a public course on federally owned land near the National Mall. He described the planned venue as a championship-level course that would remain open to the public.
Trump said the Department of the Interior, under Secretary Doug Burgum, is working with golf course architect Tom Fazio on the project. In a Truth Social post, Trump said the finished course would be designed to a high standard while retaining public access. He said the United States Golf Association, PGA of America and PGA Tour had been notified of the plans.
Trump said the redesigned course could host major competitions, naming the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. Those events were presented as potential uses for the course; the announcement did not say that any tournament had been awarded or scheduled there.
The president said restoration work on Fazio’s design is expected to begin after the existing course closes Nov. 15. He estimated that the new course could open about 15 months after work begins. Trump also predicted that the project would create jobs and benefit Washington and the surrounding region.
The announcement came amid litigation over work at the property. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes took judicial notice of Trump’s post and ordered the government to clarify by 8 p.m. Sunday whether it continued to stand by a position in a court filing submitted two days earlier. That filing said there was “no final agency action” and characterized Trump’s consideration of rebuilding the course as, at most, preliminary.
Reyes also directed two government attorneys involved in the case to appear in person at an evidentiary hearing Monday morning. The court’s request for clarification followed the president’s public description of the redevelopment effort. The supplied account does not include the government’s response to the judge’s order or the outcome of the hearing.
A related legal challenge concerns tree removal at the site. Reyes had recently temporarily stopped additional tree cutting while that challenge proceeds. Trump’s announcement did not address the litigation, according to the source material.
Trump criticized the condition of the current course, describing it as deteriorated and raising concerns about trees he called dangerous or diseased and a seawall he said was deteriorating. He said the redevelopment would restore views of Washington. East Potomac Golf Links has served the city’s public golf community for more than a century, the source reported.
The plan therefore combines a proposed public-works redevelopment with unresolved questions before the court. The administration’s earlier position, as quoted in its filing, was that no final agency action had occurred; Reyes has ordered clarification in light of Trump’s public announcement. The available material does not establish the project’s final approval status, whether the proposed schedule will proceed, or whether the course will ultimately host the major tournaments Trump named.
