Trump Said He'd Close A Dc Golf Course. His Lawyers Now Agree.

The Trump administration will in fact shutter a historic golf course in the nation's capital next month, Justice Department lawyers told a federal court late Wednesday in the latest round of sparring over the president's controversial renovation plans.

The admission is an about-face for DOJ attorneys who have repeatedly told Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden appointee, that there are no plans to close the East Potomac Golf Links, a public golf course with views of the Washington Monument, even as the president insisted otherwise on social media.

But on Wednesday, the National Park Service, which owns the course and two others in Washington, signed a new lease with the nonprofit that runs the golf courses, dropping its purview of the East Potomac course, DOJ told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

"There will be no company to operate that course," the attorneys wrote.

The 106-year old course will close Nov. 15 — the same date President Donald Trump previously said it would close, in repeated social media posts.

The president, who owns 15 golf courses globally, has honed in on the golf course renovations as part of his larger ambition to leave an architectural legacy across the nation’s capital. He championed swiftly moving forward with a renovation, designed by well-known golf architect Tom Fazio, despite the lawsuit brought by a preservation group and local golfers, and slammed the judge for limiting those plans. Trump has promised a championship-level course that can host tournaments like the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship.

Until Wednesday, the administration’s lawyers had repeatedly assured Reyes that East Potomac was not closing and adamantly defended NPS cutting down more than 400 trees on the course earlier this month as routine maintenance unrelated to the president’s plans.

Reyes has excoriated the administration for appearing to move forward despite the court’s concerns and for making claims in court that don’t match the president’s public statements.

The Trump administration tried to remove Reyes from the case, alleging bias, but Reyes denied the request.

The Trump took control last year of three aging public golf courses owned by the National Park Service. The East Potomac, Langston Golf Course & Driving Range and Rock Creek Park Golf were run by the National Links Trust, a nonprofit founded to renovate the historic courses on a 50-year lease with the National Park Service signed in 2020.

But the administration ended that agreement last year, arguing that NLT had failed to make lease payments. NLT leaders noted that the lease payments were offset with the park agency’s approval for investment into improving the courses, such as a restored miniature golf course at East Potomac.

In a Wednesday court filing, NPS acting Director Jessica Bowron said the East Potomac park needs extensive work, including repairs to a deteriorating seawall.

Trump, meanwhile, took to Truth Social to post photos of run-down parts of the course, saying Judge Reyes will be held “fully responsible for anybody who is hurt, or killed, on this very dangerous, dilapidated, and unsightly Golf Course.”

The Trump administration said it would submit its plans for the golf course redesign to the National Capital Planning Commission Friday, for consideration at a December meeting.

That panel, led by Trump officials, has been a pivot point for several of Trump’s preferred projects in the nation’s capital, including a proposed triumphal arch that’s also on park service property.

Also on Friday, Reyes ordered an Interior Department lawyer to testify and clarify the timeline of the president’s orders to close the course.