Trump cuts down oldest cherry blossoms in DC for his golf course

A few years ago the cherry blossoms given to the U.S. from Japan in 1912 had to be removed to rebuild the flood wall on the Tidal Basin in Washington D.C. The oldest trees left remained within East Potomac Park, until this week.

Trump tore down the trees this week to make way for his new golf course he intends to build on a manmade island in the Potomac River, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

Trump seeks to build a golf course that is worthy of a PGA event, but it will likely cost a pretty penny to shore up the island itself.

Trump claimed that the work would begin on the course Sept 1. Much of the debris from the East Wing of the White House was dumped onto the island to be used for the course.

"An informal count Thursday found that more than 60 trees appeared to have been removed in recent weeks. Many were around the perimeter and parking lot, but others had been removed from playing corridors on the Blue, Red and White courses," the Post reported.

The most notable one was the famous "cherry tree near the 14th green of the Blue Course, one of East Potomac’s most picturesque holes, framed by cherry trees near the southern end of Hains Point. Nearby, two large sycamores had been removed around the fourth hole," the report added.

A lawsuit in May ended with a judge saying that they could still perform "necessary maintenance but warned administration lawyers against presenting the court with a fait accompli." So, the administration is painting the tree removal as exactly that.

“Arborists are doing routine maintenance at East Potomac Park with selective removal of hazard trees, non-native invasive trees, and declining and dying trees that cannot be brought back to good health through any degree of intervention,” the department's spokesperson said in a statement. “Trees throughout the park are regularly monitored for potential safety impacts to visitors, and when a tree is determined to be dying, declining or hazardous, our arborists may make the decision to remove it.”

Well-maintained ancient cherry blossom trees can live for centuries. Japan brought over 3,000 trees to the U.S. as a lasting symbol of the friendship between the two countries. However, many of those trees were destroyed due to pests and disease over the years. Not all of them died, however. While the Tidal Basin is the best-known viewing site, many of the remaining Yoshino trees and other varieties were planted in East Potomac Park between 1913 and 1920, the National Parks Service said.

There were once over 1,400 Yoshino cherry trees in the area, the National Park Service said, in East Potomac Park.

Visitors can find Yoshino cherries, which produce the classic pale pink-and-white spring canopy, as well as hundreds of Kwanzan cherries, known for their fuller clusters of deep pink double blooms. East Potomac Park also has weeping cherry trees, autumn-flowering varieties, and Korean cherry specimens.

At Hains Point, a gnarled grove beside the golf course may include some of the park’s oldest trees, if they are still there. The National Park Service site said there is evidence that these trees could be remnants of Japan’s earlier 1910 shipment. At one point, the area was used for agricultural research, and historic records indicate that not every tree from the original shipment was burned.

There were 269 cherry blossom trees taken down for the construction project and 426 were planted in their place, Chesapeake Bay Magazine reported.

Trump terminated the National Links Trust’s 50-year lease, then moved to direct renovations through the National Park Service and golf architect Tom Fazio. His golf course plan has faced a lawsuit and criticism that it could displace an affordable, accessible public facility, remove recreational areas and smaller beginner-friendly courses and bypass required planning and environmental reviews. Trump has said he wants a “world-class” course as part of his D.C. renovation.