A historical preservation group has taken the Trump administration to court over its move to take control of publicly owned golf courses in the District of Columbia. Regardless of who wins this legal fight, taxpayers will come out the losers.
The National Links Trust, a nonprofit, has been operating three golf courses in the District since 2020, when it leased them from the National Park Service. In December the Interior Department, which manages national parks, terminated the lease and said the group had been derelict in its duties to renovate Rock Creek Park Golf, Langston Golf Course, and the East Potomac Golf Links.
National Links Trust insists it has been modernizing services while navigating the bureaucratic hurdles that can hold up development. A major point of contention is up to $8.8 million worth of unpaid rent on the courses, which the National Links Trust says will be offset by capital investments which total roughly the same sum. Now the DC Preservation League and two local residents are suing the administration to block it from revoking the lease.
These kinds of disputes can only arise when the taxpayer is acting as the backstop. Unpaid bills and capital investments both mean less money for government, which eventually translates into higher taxes. The National Park Service was onto something back in 2020 when it leased out the courses, in part to encourage more private investment and pass costs from the public to the private sector. But taxpayers still subsidize tee times. The government would have been better off selling the courses altogether.
The president reportedly plans to turn the East Potomac Golf Links into a championship-level course, even though it’s unclear if that is feasible. The DC Preservation League is arguing Trump’s repossession of the courses risks environmental hazards — rubble from the White House ballroom construction has recently been dumped in the East Potomac Park — and breaks with an 1897 law that mandates the public spaces be “forever held and used as a park for the recreation and pleasure of the people.”
The rich history of these courses, including their role helping to break down the segregation during the civil rights movement, creates an imperative for them to be managed and preserved properly. But that does not mean the current arrangement is maximizing benefits for taxpayers. While the move to bring in more private money was a good one, it’s still a half-measure that has led to this predictable conflict.
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