The remains of the East Wing of the White House could one day be buried under a golf course designed by the president who ordered its demolition in the first place.
As President Donald Trump seeks to physically remake the U.S. capital city to an extent never before seen in the modern presidency, the rubble from the construction site of one of his most visible projects has been trucked to the site of one of the least: a public golf course that sits on a stretch of land in the middle of the Potomac River between Washington, D.C., and Virginia.
The East Potomac Park Golf Links at Hains Point, currently open to the public, is one of three Washington, D.C., golf courses overseen by the National Park Service that Trump hopes to remodel. But in the meantime, it’s become a dumping ground: Construction workers have been disposing of dirt and rubble from the demolished East Wing there since Trump ordered its teardown last fall. The debris can then be used to fill in the golf course above the flood plain, as recommended by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, per The Wall Street Journal. It also serves as a fitting metaphor for Trump’s D.C. redesign ambitions.
Trump’s effort to replace the site of the East Wing with an oversize ballroom and to install an arch two and a half times taller than the Lincoln Monument outside Arlington National Cemetery are his largest proposed D.C. redesign projects, while the placement of his name on building facades and his likeness on currency and banners in D.C. are perhaps his most vain. The golf course, however, might be the closest to his heart.
In his first year back in office, Trump made 106 visits to one of his golf properties. And in The Art of the Comeback, his 1997 ghostwritten memoir published following a string of bankruptcies in the ’90s, he listed “Play Golf” as his top comeback tip because it helped him relax, concentrate, take his mind off his problems, and make money.
“I only thought about putting the ball in the hole,” he wrote. “And, the irony is, I made lots of money on the golf course—making contacts and deals and coming up with ideas.”
Golf course designer Tom Fazio, who has designed Trump-owned courses in the past, is now reportedly overseeing the East Potomac redesign after having toured the course last November under an alias, according to Golf Digest. The magazine also reported that some in Trump’s orbit see the Langston Golf Course, a municipal course near the future site of the new Washington Commanders football stadium, as a prime site for commercial and retail development.
The reported plan is to rename East Potomac Park “Washington National,” giving the course the naming convention of Trump properties like the Trump National Golf Clubs located in Potomac Falls, Virginia, and in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, respectively. (It also sounds like the name of D.C.’s Major League Baseball team.) Work is expected to break ground in July on an 18-hole championship-level course that could host tournaments.
For now, East Potomac remains open seven days a week, and players can hit the course (up to 18 holes) for less than $50 or practice on the driving range from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day but Wednesday (when it opens at 11 a.m.). No word on how much a redesigned course would cost under Trump, but a source told Golf Digest that locals could get a discount.
If Trump’s White House redesign aim is to turn the People’s House into Florida Man’s McMansion, his plans for a proposed golf course suggest a wider ambition to make D.C into a Trump-branded compound—and to give public lands the look and feel of a Trump property, too.