A nonprofit has reached an agreement with the Trump administration to continue operating public golf courses in the nation’s capital, ending a months-long dispute.
National Links Trust and the Department of the Interior announced the deal on the night of May 8. The Trust will have a long-term lease at Rock Creek Park Golf and Langston Golf Course. The nonprofit will also continue operating East Potomac Golf Links until the National Park Service begins a historic restoration there.
“We are pleased that Washington, DC’s municipal golf courses—East Potomac Golf Links, Langston Golf Course, and Rock Creek Park Golf—will now remain open, accessible, and affordable for the residents and communities that depend on them,” Mike McCartin and Will Smith, co-founders of National Links Trust, said in a statement.
“National Links Trust will continue operating all three courses, and we are committed to building on the progress we have made over the past five years.”
In December 2025, the National Park Service terminated National Links Trust’s 50-year lease of all three courses. The administration said that National Links Trust was in default under the leases. The nonprofit stated that it disagreed with that characterization and that it had “invested over $8.5 million in capital improvement projects at the courses, including critical short-term improvements that have paid significant dividends, more than doubling rounds and revenues while keeping green fees well below the market average for area public courses.”
The golf courses remained open during the dispute. The rehabilitation project of Rock Creek Park Golf ceased.
However, under the new agreement, the five-year project will resume there. National Links Trust will restart construction of a new clubhouse, driving range, practice facilities, and a maintenance facility. It will restore nine holes of the historic William Flynn-designed regulation golf course, create a new nine-hole par three course, a Himalayas putting green, and develop a restaurant, new pollinator meadows, and an ecological trail network. There will also be an expansion of a workforce development program.
According to National Links Trust, Jessica Bowron, the acting director of the National Parks Service, has said that the National Parks Service will follow the established compliance process that National Links Trust went through at Rock Creek Park Golf for any large-scale work at East Potomac, making the outdoor facility accessible and affordable.
The Epoch Times has reached out to the Interior Department and National Park Service for comment.
In a May 8 statement, the National Park Service; National Links Trust; Fazio Design; First Tee of Greater Washington, D.C.; Western Golf Association; and the Evans Scholars Foundation announced “a historic investment” in the public golf courses in the nation’s capital.
The statement said East Potomac Golf Course will be “a top-tier 18-hole championship golf course capable of hosting pre-eminent tournament golf.”
The parties also said that the Washington Commanders are discussing a potential partnership at Langston Golf Course as the NFL team progresses with its stadium project in the nation’s capital.
While the agreement concludes the dispute between National Links Trust and the Trump administration, the settlement does not resolve the lawsuit filed by two golfers and a preservation group against the administration regarding the pending renovation of East Potomac Golf Links.
The lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration did not follow proper environmental and administrative procedures for the project at East Potomac Golf Links.
According to the lawsuit, soil and debris from the demolition of the East Wing at the White House—including wires, pipes, bricks, and other materials—were dumped on portions of the East Potomac Golf Links course without the required environmental review.
The Interior Department has disputed claims that debris from the East Wing contains hazardous materials.
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