Burgum: East Potomac will be transformed into ‘best course in America’ under Trump

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum argued a major renovation of East Potomac Park and its public golf courses is a necessary move by the federal government, as President Trump’s plans to redevelop the land face an intensifying legal challenge.

“I mean, there are examples of this around the country, famous golf courses, which golfers would know,” Burgum said Monday during an appearance on Fox News, comparing the president’s vision to major championship venues like Torrey Pines in Southern California and Bethpage State Park on Long Island.

“And all of these are courses that hold national tournaments and have international claim. But they’re publicly owned courses with low prices for the people that live in that immediate area, which is what we would do here,” the Interior secretary continued, arguing a priority of the administration is “maintaining that public golf.”

Trump has eyed the property at Hains Point in central Washington, D.C., for months and over the weekend posted a graphic showing plans for an 18-hole championship length course designed by leading golf course architect Tom Fazio.

For years, East Potomac has been home to one 18-hole course and two shorter courses catering to younger and beginner golfers, plus a driving range and clubhouse.

The park is also used daily by thousands of bikers, walkers and joggers who use paths that would be eliminated as part of the president’s plans.

Trump’s announcement over the weekend came after hundreds of trees — including cherry trees that bring thousands of tourists to D.C. every year — were removed from the property in recent days despite a court order halting work there.

The government’s redevelopment plan is facing a legal challenge from local preservationist groups and D.C. golfers who argue the president is illegally carrying out work on federal public land. East Potomac is part of the National Park System.

“But right now … we’ve taken out already two miles of broken-down fence. We’ve got the seawall around the wall, and the thing is like the tidal basin,” Burgum said during his appearance on Fox.

“And it is a, you know, the trees, there’s pictures of Harding and Coolidge and others that were — and Taft — golfing on this course in the early 19, the teens and the 20s when this course was made. And there was barely a tree on the course. All of its presidents. And it’s the Washington Monument in the background.”

“So doing some getting rid of some of these hazardous trees is restoring it back to its historical nature when this course was made,” the secretary continued. “But it’s a public course. It could be the best course in America with the lowest prices. That’s the intention of the National Park Service. And we’re looking forward to getting going on that.”

Trump has repeatedly said he does not need approval to begin on the project next month, and attacked U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes directly, calling her “insane” for admonishing government attorneys over the work done being at East Potomac while the case is being litigated.