A D.C. park was made 'for the pleasure of the people.' Trump's plan would change that

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump's express wish to take over the East Potomac Golf Links has thrust a municipal D.C. golf course into the national spotlight. But locals rely on that area for much more than golfing — and worry the district could lose an invaluable recreational oasis. The southern tip of East Potomac Park, known as Hains Point, is beloved by cyclists, runners, picnickers and birders for its waterfront views, cherry trees and Ohio Drive, the scenic three-mile loop around its perimeter.

Runners use the wide, flat road to train; it's even a fixture of several major race courses, including the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday. "It's such an important part of the fabric of this region, even though it's not very well known [beyond it]," said Elizabeth Kiker, the executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclists Association. She herself took her now-husband on a bike ride on their second date 20 years ago.

Locals describe Hains Point as a rare public resource in D.C. It's easily accessible from the National Mall yet removed from the crowds, full of people but free of traffic. Congress created it in 1897, "to be forever held and used as a park for the recreation and pleasure of the people." And yet, under the president's proposed golf course redesign, Hains Point as people know and love it may cease to exist.

Trump said on Truth Social last weekend that renovations would keep the entire park closed for 15 months starting in November. But it's not clear what would be left when it reopens: The rendering he posted shows an 18-hole course spanning the entire peninsula — including the current playground and picnic area on its southern tip — with no road visible around the perimeter. The White House referred NPR to the Department of the Interior, which did not respond to NPR's questions about whether those features would be removed as part of the redesign.

The proposed renovations have so far been the subject of mixed messages from the administration: Trump said last weekend that work would begin in mid-November, then "immediately." But government lawyers said in court Monday that they were not aware of a final plan. Even so, the government abruptly downed hundreds of trees on the course with little warning earlier this month, which critics worry was a pretext for beginning renovations. (The government says it was following up on recommendations from a 2019 landscaping report.) Judge Ana Reyes held a hearing on Monday to learn more about the tree-clearing and decide whether to block further work on the golf course. But it's not just the golf course that's at stake, as a group called Hains Point Runners told Reyes in the courtroom and a written brief.

In its 35-page brief, the group says federal law requires the National Park Service to identify and consider the "longstanding recreational uses of the Hains Point corridor" and ways to avoid harming those uses, before embarking on any work that would change it. "From the perspective of the running community, that did not occur here," lawyers wrote. Ashley Hawkins of Prince George's County, Md., runs at Hains Point every day, even in the snow.