{"id":44473,"date":"2026-07-30T16:24:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T16:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/44473\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T16:24:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T16:24:32","slug":"raskin-asks-for-details-and-cost-of-east-potomac-park-golf-course-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/44473\/","title":{"rendered":"Raskin asks for details and cost of East Potomac Park golf course changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rep. Jamie Raskin<\/a> (D-MD) and other Democrats<\/a> in Congress wrote Interior Secretary Doug Burgum<\/a>, raising questions about the cost and preservation of certain staples of the East Potomac Park golf course as President Donald Trump<\/a> prepares to begin renovations in September.<\/p>\n

Raskin opened his letter by calling the project \u201crushed\u201d and noting his and his colleagues\u2019 \u201cstrong objections\u201d to the renovation, as the Trump administration<\/a> has offered few details about the cost and specific plans for the popular course.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration\u00a0struck a deal<\/a>\u00a0in May with the National Links Trust, the group that has long leased the course, to begin renovations on Washington\u2019s three public golf courses alongside the National Park Service<\/a> and \u201cother partners.\u201d\u00a0Burgum\u00a0released the new design just days later, which appears to include a new driving range facing the Washington Monument<\/a> and a new 18-hole course replacing the current two 9-hole courses and one 18-hole course.<\/p>\n

Among Raskin\u2019s concerns were the prospect that renovations could remove biking and running trails from the course and damage the cherry trees along Hains Point that were donated by Japan. Raskin alleges changing such features is \u201cunacceptable and potentially illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raskin flagged problems that upgrading the course to a luxury, professional standard could risk shutting out communities that have long played the course, ripping the administration for failing to engage with the public about possible changes to the park. He noted that designs appeared to be far more expansive than initially advertised following Trump\u2019s visit to the park in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the high-resolution photos of the plan clutched by the President during the tour reflect the Administration\u2019s real intentions, the redesign would create just one 18-hole course for professionals, provide no 9-hole pitch and putt course,\u00a0and completely eliminate Hains Point and the walking and biking trails surrounding the park,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has not yet disclosed the price tag for the planned renovation of the Red, White, and Blue courses, but Raskin said the information that is available is unacceptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe limited information shared about public access after the redesign includes estimates that the weekend price for local golfers could nearly double as a result of this complete transformation,\u00a0even as the number of available courses to play on is cut by a third,\u201d the letter said. \u201cThis undermines the\u00a0longstanding principles of affordability and public access which have driven East Potomac Golf\u00a0Links since its founding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raskin also took issue with the \u201cshadowy\u201d group seeking donors for the renovation plan, the National Garden of American Heroes Foundation, which gave donors the option to donate anonymously.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only information available about this shadowy foundation is that interested donors can contact President Trump\u2019s 2024 presidential campaign finance director if they have any questions,\u201d the letter said. \u201cWe have seen this hollow promise before. Previous construction efforts that President Trump has touted as privately funded have both ballooned in cost and in fact been paid for by taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter ends by requesting that Burgum provide the cost estimate of the project, clarify plans for the biking trails and cherry trees, admission cost for players, any ties between the donor foundation and Trump, and whether the Interior Department<\/a> plans to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires a public comment period.<\/p>\n

DOUG BURGUM RELEASES NEW EAST POTOMAC GOLF LINKS LAYOUT<\/a><\/p>\n

The Interior Department pushed back on Raskin\u2019s characterization of the East Potomac golf course project.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Donald J. Trump is fulfilling his commitment to make D.C. Safe and Beautiful as shown by the working fountains, clean parks and safe streets across the district for the first time in decades,\u201d an Interior Department spokesman said. \u201cDOI and NPS are committed to continuing the relationships we have built with the local golf communities to ensure these courses are safe, beautiful, open, affordable, enjoyable, accessible, and world-class for people living in and visiting the greatest capital city in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and other Democrats in Congress wrote Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, raising questions about the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1259,11613,44,11184,17522,56,17523],"class_list":["post-44473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-donald-trump","tag-doug-burgum","tag-golf","tag-interior-department","tag-jamie-raskin","tag-sports","tag-trump-administration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}