Democrat wants assurances Trump can't buy DC golf course after taxpayer-funded renovations
A House Democrat is asking congressional appropriators for guardrails that would prevent President Donald Trump from exploiting a loophole in federal law to buy the East Potomac Golf Course that he's been pushing to renovate with taxpayer funds.
Rep. Jared Huffman, the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee wrote to the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate Appropriations committees saying Trump would get little pushback if he tried to carry out such a plan.
"The rush to complete the repairs on the taxpayer dime is concerning in light of the Committee's review of a provision of federal law that gives the Department of the Interior Secretary a potential tool to transfer ownership of East Potomac Park to the President or his allies," Huffman wrote in the letter obtained by ABC News.
Trump's plans to renovate the public course in Washington on a peninsula between the Potomac River and the Washington Channel faces legal challenges but the president has said repeatedly that work on the course would begin on Nov. 15.
In a statement, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said: "President Trump has been clear: he is restoring this dangerous and decrepit golf course to make it a world-class PUBLIC golf course that is beautiful, safe, and affordable, for local D.C. residents and visitors. This is part of the President's broader effort to make our nation's capital safe and beautiful again."
Huffman said the law could allow Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to put the course up for sale and "hand-pick buyers through a private solicitation."
U.S. Code allows for the Interior secretary "for the best interests of the Federal Government, may sell, by deed or instrument, real estate held by the Government in the District of Columbia and under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service which may be no longer needed for public purposes," with the approval of the National Capital Planning Commission.
The National Capital Planning Commission, a federal agency led by Trump's hand-picked appointees, is to consider the president's plans for the golf course and surrounding park, site of a popular running and biking loop and picnic areas, in its Dec. 3 meeting. The commission is expected to approve plans for Trump's controversial 250-foot-tall "triumphal arch" to be built in front of Arlington National Cemetery in its Nov. 5 meeting. That project also faces legal challenges.
The administration has asked Congress for $500 million for the National Park Service for "targeted restoration and construction" of the seawall around East Potomac Park where the course is located and the World War II Memorial on the National Mall.
The seawall around the park was built in the 1890s, according to the Park Service, and "have significantly settled and been compromised" since their construction, leading to what it calls "dangerous" conditions in some sections.
Huffman pointed to a social media post by Burgum in May saying the project is likely not viable with overhauling the seawall.
"In other words, President Trump's desired golf course overhaul requires the seawall to be repaired," he wrote in the letter obtained by ABC News.
"If the President's desire to restore the seawall is a good faith effort to rehabilitate our public lands, as is the desire of Congress, then he should have no objection to commonsense guardrails on his supplemental funding request. His objection would be telling," Huffman wrote in his letter to appropriators.
"As proposed, this taxpayer funding could pay for the President's proposed transformation of the accessible, multi-use, and historic East Potomac Park into a single elite championship golf course, while leaving open the possibility that his administration could sell the property to Trump himself," Huffman wrote. "Without clear guardrails, taxpayers could end up footing the bill for seawall repairs that ultimately help pad Trump's golf course portfolio."
Two golfers and the DC Preservation League have filed suit to stop the golf course project.
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Interior Department to respond after Trump again reaffirmed his plan to close the course on Nov. 15, directly contradicting repeated assertions from administration officials in a hearing last week.
District Court Judge Ana Reyes separately ordered Associate Attorney General Stanley back into court on Friday, when she is expected to press him over previous statements assuring her the Nov. 15 date repeatedly cited by Trump was not under consideration.
Reyes on Monday issued a preliminary injunction to compel the administration to give 10 days' notice in writing before making any "irreparable modification" to any "forms or features" of the course while the lawsuit is active.
In a post early Thursday morning, Trump defended his planned renovation of the course and shared photos of what he called "highly dangerous, dilapidated, and absolutely disgusting" conditions.
The president claimed a "White House staffer" was "hit violently in the chest" with a golf ball because or torn netting at course's driving range.
Returning from a campaign rally in South Carolina on Thursday, Trump refused to elaborate on which White House staffer was struck when asked by reporters.
"Oh, many people," he said. "It's very dangerous because the holes are too close. It's a very obsolete course, and we're doing very well. We're going to have something great for the country."
In his Thursday morning post, the president said, "The current condition of the golf course is a National Disgrace, but we will make it a WORLD CLASS PUBLIC Golf Course that is AFFORDABLE for locals," he said.
Trump then threatened to hold Reyes "fully responsible for anybody who is hurt, or killed, on this very dangerous, dilapidated, and unsightly Golf Course."
