President Donald Trump said on Sunday that work will begin Sept. 1 on the public East Potomac Golf Course despite a federal judge’s warning of “serious consequences” if the administration begins major work without getting approval and notifying the court in advance.
Trump took a tour of some of the projects he has commissioned or plans to on a rainy Sunday morning.
The president’s motorcade swung by Lafayette Park near the White House and around Memorial Circle in front of Arlington National Cemetery, where he plans to build his 250-foot-high triumphal arch, and by the Kennedy Center, to which he had added his name before a judge ordered it removed.
President Donald Trump talks with aides and others as he visits East Potomac Golf Course at Hains Point in Washington, D.C., June 28, 2026.
Ken Cedeno/Reuters
Trump’s claim that he’s moving forward with the renovations to East Potomac Park follow a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit National Links Trust regarding its lease on D.C. public golf courses. The administration terminated its agreement with National Links Trust in December, saying it hadn’t lived up to its agreement on maintenance of the courses, which the National Links Trust disputes.
An agreement was reached in May that allows the nonprofit to continue operating the course as Trump’s renovation plans progress.
Lawyers for the D.C. Preservation League warned that the East Potomac property would be “razed” by the Trump administration before anyone could stop it, citing the rapid demolition of the White House’s East Wing.
A federal judge warned the administration that it was not to proceed with renovations on East Potomac before getting proper approvals and notifying her first.
“I’m going to say this one more time, and I do not want a situation where something has happened and then I’m being told by the government or by a foundation or by a bulldozing company that it’s too late to do anything about it,” U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said. “If anything like that happens … there are going to be serious consequences.”
U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, left, and Natalie Harp, executive assistant to the president, speak with President Donald Trump during a visit to East Potomac Golf Course in Washington, D.C., June 28, 2026.
Ken Cedeno/Reuters
Trump promises the course, which he said will be renovated and redesigned through a public-private partnership, will be “one of the Greatest Golf Courses anywhere in the World” on the site and said it will be open to the public.
Trump said the work on the will be built through the Department of the Interior with golf course architect Tom Fazio overseeing the project.
He said the new course will be “designed to the Highest Standards of Golf, but also in such a way that the General Public will love it” and that when it’s completed, the course will have be able to host major golf tournaments like the U.S. Open, the Ryder Cup, the PGA Championship and other top PGA Tour events.
Trump was joined at the course on Sunday by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Fazio and the architect’s son Gavin Fazio.
Trump said his trip was for “studying the dilapidated, worn out, and very dangerous and outdated Golf Course known as East Potomac Golf Links.” He said on his social media platform “on this fantastic site, with water and unparalleled views of D.C.’s Monuments, we will build one of the Greatest Golf Courses anywhere in the World which, importantly, will also be made available to the Public.”
President Donald Trump’s motorcade drives around Memorial Circle, the site of his proposed triumphal arch in Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, DC, June 28, 2026.
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images
Trump also provided an update on the $16 million overhaul of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, saying it’s now in “full use” but will be treated again to be in “perfect shape” after July 4, and repeated claims, without providing evidence, that the algae blooms that erupted in the pool and a newly applied liner that appears to be peeling away from the bottom, was caused by vandals.
“The Reflecting Pool is now in full use after suffering great damage from Criminal, Radical Left Vandals, people that truly hate our Country,” Trump wrote.
“Right after July 4th, when we will drain the water to treat the damage caused by these “animals,” it will again be in perfect shape. In the meantime, it is working well, the criminally made algae is gone, and the grass, which was destroyed, is being replaced shortly,” he added.
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