The supposed plan for East Potomac Park is an absolute tragedy for so many that call our nation’s capital home. For 130 years, East Potomac has served every kind of American. Golfers, cyclists, runners, birdwatchers, walkers, picnickers, anyone who just wants to see the cherry blossoms. This plan is a betrayal of the public, of the National Park Service, and of the very act that established this land to be “forever held and used as a park for the recreation and pleasure of the people.” Ask yourself who a public muni golf course is actually meant to serve. East Potomac was built in direct response to the elitism of golf, a course anyone could walk onto and play, at a time when golf in America belonged almost entirely to the wealthy. Now the government wants to turn it back into exactly that. The very thing this course was built to stand against. This golf escapade is compounded by the fact that golf is about to become the only purpose of this entire peninsula. Over 130 years, East Potomac expanded, not narrowed, who and what it served. The road came. The playground came. The mini golf course came. The cherry blossoms were planted and became part of the city’s identity. All of it added, piece by piece, to widen who this park belonged to. Now it’s all being wiped out in one fell swoop, for a single use, by a single man. Donald Trump already owns 16 golf courses. He doesn’t need a 17th. Especially not one carved out of 130 years of public land to chase his own personal trophy. The heart of this issue really is not about golf. It is about who owns our public lands in America. The National Park Service’s mandate is "...to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." Not for the enjoyment of one man’s ego. For future generations. Public land doesn’t become private property just because the person in office wants it to be. That’s the whole point of calling it public.

40K people got to see what we are fighting for today. And what are we fighting for? Access to space on public land. The desire to not see an entire multipurpose space converted to an upscale golf course. Real radical ideas… Let’s hope the MCM, and everyone else, can continue to use this park.

We’ll be at the Marine Corps Marathon this Sunday, mile 11.75, right as runners enter East Potomac Park. 40,000 runners passing straight through the park we’re fighting to save. Come join us, ~8am to noon. Signs provided. Come for all or part of it! It's worth fighting for.

Good article today from the NYT. I have still yet to hear one good reason why we should get rid of a broad, multi purpose space to satisfy one thing and one thing only. It defies imagination and what PUBLIC space is meant to be. nytimes.com/interactive/2026…

How tf is this legal? If a company is proud to stand by their work and what they are doing at East Potomac they wouldn’t be doing this

Who should decide what East Potomac is for? National Links Trust ran East Potomac for 5 years. Their mission? “To positively impact our community in Washington, D.C., and change lives through affordable and accessible municipal golf.” Trump, in 2014, on who golf is for: “I would make golf aspirational, instead of trying to bring everybody into golf, people that are never gonna be able to be there anyway.” That’s not just a golf philosophy. It’s the whole plan. 36 holes down to 18. No more mini golf. No more running road. No more playground. The entire peninsula, narrowed down to one use, for one kind of person. If you think Trump is the right man to decide what Hains Point becomes, ask yourself who he’s actually doing this for. And be honest. Do you think it’s for you?

This is how you know what you’re doing is totally cool and above board.

To simultaneously strengthen executive deference and weaken judicial oversight under this administration is unconscionable. BAAJA does just that. They don’t give a damn about historic preservation. Contact your reps. Tell them NO on BAAJA. saveeastpo.com/send-a-letter

One of the saddest facts about the East Potomac situation is that it was being renovated - Trump’s problem is that it wasn’t being renovated by himself. The National Links Trust was raising private contributions, making much needed repairs, and had a world class golf architect lined up to do the upgrades for free. Those plans preserved the historic character, maintained affordability, and protected public access to the rest of the park. Would trees have come down? Yes. Would land be moved? Yes Would there be the uproar there is now? Absolutely not. If Trump had really cared about the people this impacted he would have worked with the NLT to expedite their plan. But he didn’t. And he doesn’t. This is not about giving the people a world class public course. It’s about giving himself a 17th.

We have said it in the past but we’ll say it again: nobody has done a better job covering the East Potomac case than Garrett and @fried_egg_golf See his article below for why what the Trump admin has proposed is bad for everyone, including golfers.

How many lawyers does it take to destroy Hains Point? What a sad fact that the fate of a public park that serves all could be converted into something meant to serve so few. We implore people to recognize that this is not about Trump - we just want to preserve our park.

"And that is why these cases matter. This is about whether the judiciary can constrain this president for the next two years, or whether he will be permitted to simply bulldoze the rule of law en route to bulldozing a public park and turning it into a walled garden for his own amusement."

Now is NOT the time to give more authority to the executive. The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act does just that. East Potomac will become a study in how to bulldoze any historic property. Reach out to your reps now, it takes 1 minute: saveeastpo.com/send-a-letter

East Potomac is facing two threats right now: this administration’s attempt to bulldoze a 130 year old public park, and a bill in the Senate, BAAJA, that would strip away the legal tools currently being used to stop them (both here and beyond!). Contact your senator. Tell them: PROTECT EAST POTOMAC. Vote NO on BAAJA as it currently exists. Takes two minutes. Fill in your address, it finds your reps automatically, edit the message if you want, hit send. That’s it. saveeastpo.com/send-a-letter

Nobody, and I repeat NOBODY, has ever called East Potomac trash island. This is blatant propaganda. Won’t change anybody’s mind but let’s be clear that the President is making things up.