Hains Point and East Potomac golf course

Hains Point and East Potomac golf course

One of my favorite places in DC is Hains Point, famous for its cherry trees. It is home to the Cherry Blossum Festival and I would run each year in its 10K and the Marine Corps marathon. It has great fishing too and when the herring run each year, I and quite a few others would be there snagging them. I tried to make a point of running the three mile loop around Hains Point on my long weekend runs and many times I would just go there a sit peacefully watching the runners and the bicycles. I loved the place nestled inside the Potomac River.

So I was distressed to read that the capital’s new chief planning commissioner, one Donald J. Trump, had ordered more than 400 trees cut down to make way for a new golf course replacing the rundown public one already there. My first thought was the cherry trees, and sure enough, 269 of them were felled. The National Park Service says there are over 1,400 cherry trees in the area, so I suppose we should be grateful he only played the front nine.

The project was sued immediately, and a federal judge sided with the plaintiffs, ordering everything halted until a full hearing. Trump, naturally, treated the order like a “Keep Off the Grass” sign: a suggestion at best. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes was outraged, threatened contempt of court, and set about trying to figure out who ordered the removals and why. Her displeasure was so intense that the government’s lawyers asked her to recuse herself, claiming she had “belittled” and “shouted at” them and couldn’t be impartial. Meanwhile Trump insisted the Interior Department could do the renovation without court approval, announced work would start right away, and called Judge Reyes a “crazed lunatic,” which is generally not a good move that gets a judge to see things your way. Reyes declined to step aside.

Trump hired famed golf architect Tom Fazio to design the new course, saying he wanted a championship layout that could host big-time tournaments, apparently forgetting the DC area already has three of those. Meanwhile the humble course at East Potomac Park was one of the most popular public courses in the region, with a $41 greens fee. I’m sure the president’s new championship course will keep those low fees. Right? Right?? The National Links Trust, the nonprofit that runs East Potomac Golf Links, says 124,500 rounds were played across its three courses in 2025, about 341 a day. That’s a lot of regular folks shanking balls into the Potomac at a very reasonable price. Fore!

Here is what the president posted on social media:

Trump terminated the National Links Trust’s 50-year lease on the course, then

moved to direct renovations through the National Park Service and Fazio. The golf plan displaces an affordable, accessible public facility, removes recreational areas and smaller beginner-friendly courses and bypasses required planning and environmental reviews. Trump of course does not care.

But I care, even if I am no longer a DC resident. On an average day, approximately 1,100 bicycle and pedestrian passages occur along the southern tip of Hains Point — 500 by bike and 600 on foot. One local put it best: “It is such a wonderful resource. It is frightening to think that it could disappear.”

One may wonder with Ukraine, France on fire, Iran, parts of Africa on the verge of war, China harassing Taiwan, battles over tariffs, affordability issues and midterm elections looming that the president might find a better use of his time than demolishing a municipal golf course. But hey, all those government attorneys who are just sitting around need something to do.