Crews begin clearing 169 trees at DC golf course Trump plans to convert to championship course
CNN
By Kaanita Iyer, CNN
(CNN) — Crews with the Interior Department on Saturday began a new phase of removing trees from the East Potomac Golf Course in Washington DC, the site of one of several Trump administration renovation projects wrapped up in litigation brought by groups seeking to stop those efforts.
On Friday, the National Park Service, a division of the Interior Department, said in a court filing that it planned to begin removing 169 trees on Saturday, part of what it said was routine maintenance to eliminate potential hazards from the public golf course. In all, the NPS plans to remove as many as 529 trees at the site, according to court documents.
The superintendent of NPS overseeing the National Mall said in the filing that the removal is not part of the administration’s proposed renovation, though plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit that seeks to prevent the renovation from happening have contended that the administration is pursuing separate maintenance projects as part of its larger plan.
“The planned tree management and cultural landscape rehabilitation project is not a renovation or redesign of the Golf Course, is not a part of any potential project to redesign or renovate the Golf Course, and would be carried out irrespective of any future renovation or redesign,” Kevin Griess, the NPS superintendent, said in the court filing.
Preservationists and DC residents have expressed anger about the tree removal. At a hearing last month, US District Judge Ana Reyes — who is overseeing the case — acknowledged that “people are pretty upset.” Reyes shared at the time that she had received threats, including one person who she said threatened to remove her if she didn’t “save the trees.”
Lawyers for the administration revealed at the time that about 150 trees were already cut down. After the 169 trees in a part of the course nicknamed “Trash Island” are removed, another 90 will be cleared out at a later date, the NPS said in its filing.
The Interior Department, which oversees NPS, said in a statement to CNN on Saturday, “The National Park Service is finally implementing a 7-year-old plan to address tree overgrowth at East Potomac Golf Course. The work will include selective tree and vegetation work to restore the course.”
“NPS recognizes the importance of trees to the park and its visitors. This carefully planned work is part of our required stewardship of the park,” the statement added.
In Friday’s filing, Griess also vowed that, “No healthy trees that are contributing features of the historical golf course (such as healthy, historic cherry trees) will be removed as part of this project.” Every spring, flocks of tourists visit the area around the golf course, known as Haines Point, to watch the cherry trees blossom.
CNN has reached out to lawyers for The DC Preservation League and two local golfers who brought the case against the administration for comment.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has attempted to reshape the Washington, DC, landscape with several construction and renovation projects. An avid golfer, Trump has said he intends to transform the East Potomac Golf Course into a championship caliber course.
NPS has said that the preliminary scope of the cost is estimated to be between $20 and $49 million. The agency is set to start soliciting bids to remake the public golf course in January 2027.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Sunlen Serfaty contributed to this report.
