DOJ says government developing plan to close D.C. golf course

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said the Interior Department is working on a plan to close East Potomac Golf Links by Nov. 15. Washington — The Department of the Interior is working on a plan to close East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C., by Nov. 15 after President Trump twice said the historic course will temporarily shutter for a redesign next month, senior Justice Department officials said Wednesday. In a brief filing with the U.S. district court, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward acknowledged Mr. Trump's declarations, shared to Truth Social, that East Potomac will close so it can be overhauled "for Competitive (with other such projects!), Safety, Modernization, and Aesthetic reasons." "Accordingly, Interior, acting through counsel, is working to develop a plan to implement that direction and will provide this Court with notice," Woodward said.

The Trump administration has for months been involved in a legal fight — brought by a local preservation group and two golfers — over the potential overhaul of East Potomac, a public course in the nation's capital that has been open since 1920. While administration officials have said there is no finalized proposal to redesign and renovate the course, only a "possible project," the president announced on Truth Social earlier this month that the Interior Department, led by Secretary Doug Burgum, and Tom Fazio,