President Donald Trump has attempted to justify his takeover of a public Washington D.C., golf course by calling it a "Trash Island," prompting local golfers to rip into him for making the course's problems worse, per a report from The Daily Beast.
Trump and his administration have been embroiled in a months-long legal battle over his desire to heavily renovate the East Potomac Golf Links, with the president this weekend revealing plans to turn it into a high-end 18-hole course in the mold of his own various golf resorts. D.C. Residents, meanwhile, have taken issue with his plans to seemingly rip up the island course's much-beloved landscape, including an iconic loop of cherry blossom trees.
Attempting to justify his takeover, in a way notably similar to his Kennedy Center claims, Trump has insisted that the East Potomac Links are badly in need of a renovation and cleanup.
"Trump also shared dozens of photos on Truth Social showing abandoned equipment, piles of discarded logs and debris, and what he described as a 'collapsing sea wall,'" The Daily Beast explained in a Wednesday report. "The posts were part of his attempt to highlight how much 'Trash Island' needs to be renovated into a course capable of hosting events such as the U.S. Open and the Ryder Cup."
Local golfers, however, are not buying Trump's arguments about the course, arguing that, while it could have used some work, it was not in such dire condition that it needed a drastic overhaul. They also attacked Trump for making its problems much worse after flouting a judge's order and ripping out its trees.
The report cited comments made by Gus Johnson, 67, who has been visiting East Potomac for 20 years, to The Washington Post, in which he tore into Trump for ruining the course's trees.
“It’s disgusting. It makes me sick,” Johnson said. “He’s destroyed the course.”
He also added: "This is Park Service land. It’s what we have as a layperson. Trump is turning it into a country club for the rich.”
Chris Lawrence, 66, has used the course around once a week for the past 36 years, and argued that the issues Trump has with East Potomac are simply to be expected at an affordable public location.
“This has always been a course for the common person,” Lawrence said. “It’s for everyone, it’s not an elite place.”
A new piece from Golfweek slammed the renovation plans, arguing there is "dubious need and little desire" for them. It also pointed out the harsh reality that the major golf events that Trump believes could be hosted on the island are already booked, in some cases, well into the 2040s, making it likely that Trump might never see an event there while he is still alive.
Employees of East Potomac, meanwhile, claim that the parts of the area that Trump attacked for being "Trash Island" were actually from a part of the course that is largely out of view from the public, which they dubbed "the Boneyard." The Daily Beast described it as a "secluded location where broken equipment and other disused items were dumped."
