Trump administration cancels lease for Washington public golf courses

Officials are ‘devastated’ by the decision

The Trump administration has terminated the lease agreement for three public golf courses in Washington, a decision that could allow President Donald Trump to further influence a notable part of the nation's capital.

The National Links Trust, the non-profit organization that has managed Washington's three public courses on federal land for the past five years, confirmed Wednesday that the Department of the Interior had ended its 50-year lease.

The Interior Department said the lease was cancelled because the non-profit had not carried out required capital improvements and failed to meet the agreement's terms.

The Trump administration's intentions for the golf courses are currently unclear.

However, the move provides the president, whose private company has developed numerous golf courses across the US and abroad, the opportunity to reshape the links overlooking the Potomac River, in Rock Creek Park, and a site with significant Black golf history.

Officials for the National Links Trust said in a statement that they were “devastated” by the decision to terminate the lease and defended their management of the courses.

They said $8.5 million had gone toward capital improvements at the courses and that rounds played and revenue had more than doubled in their tenure managing the courses.

Trump plays a round of golf in New Jersey (Getty Images)

The nonprofit has agreed to keep managing the courses for the time being, but long-term renovations will stop.

“While this termination is a major setback, we remain stubbornly hopeful that a path forward can be found that preserves affordable and accessible public golf in the nation’s capital for generations to come,” the officials added.

The Department of the Interior's decision comes as Trump rebrands civic spaces in Washington and deploys National Guard members to the streets for public safety.

The Kennedy Center added Trump's name this month after the center's board of trustees — made up of Trump appointees — voted to change the name of the performing arts space designated by Congress as a memorial to John F. Kennedy.

Trump is also in the midst of a construction project to build a ballroom on the White House's East Wing, and he has put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace.