PAR FOR THE COURSE

Embarrassing Reality of Trump’s ‘Trash Island’ Exposed

The president is getting pushback on his plans to renovate East Potomac Golf Links.

Golfers have rejected Donald Trump’s assessment that their historic course in Washington, D.C., is a “trash island” that is “unsafe” to play on.

The president’s latest renovation obsession in the capital is to transform East Potomac Golf Links into an elite resort. But he is being hindered by legal challenges and a judge’s ruling ordering that construction work not proceed until plans have been reviewed and approved.

The Trump administration got around the ruling from U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes by simply ignoring it and felling hundreds of trees at the course over the holiday weekend.

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 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.

But Gus Johnson, a regular at East Potomac who has played there for about 20 years, believes Trump has actually made the course worse by cutting down trees.

He added that, while the course could use a little work, the president hardly helped by dumping a huge dirt mound excavated from the White House during construction of the president’s $400 million ballroom.

“It’s disgusting. It makes me sick,” Johnson, 67, told The Washington Post. “He’s destroyed the course.”

The part Trump calls “Trash Island” is a 21,000-square-yard patch largely out of sight of golfers.

Employees had called it “the Boneyard” because it was a secluded location where broken equipment and other disused items were dumped. However, people familiar with course operations told the Post they had never heard anyone call it “Trash Island” until Trump started attacking it.

In February, the National Links Trust posted before-and-after pictures of the Boneyard to show how much it had improved since the organization took over East Potomac Golf Links in 2020.

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After removing the junk and invasive vegetation, the area was transformed into native wildlife habitat and became home to several bird species.

During a Monday hearing, National Park Service official Kevin Griess admitted to Judge Reyes that most of the roughly 400 trees cut down at the course this month were healthy and non-invasive.

Andrew Scher, 28, used to play East Potomac more than 50 times a year. He returned for the first time in about a year on Tuesday and said the course’s condition had actually improved.

“The greens seem to be rolling truer,” he told the Post. Scher said he wasn’t even bothered when he played near Trash Island. “There’s constant maintenance on any course,” he added.

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Chris Lawrence, 66, who has played at the D.C. course roughly once a week since 1990, said its condition was to be expected for a relatively affordable public course.

“This has always been a course for the common person,” Lawrence said. “It’s for everyone, it’s not an elite place.”

Johnson made a similar assessment while speaking out against Trump’s plans for the course.

“This is Park Service land. It’s what we have as a layperson,” Johnson said. “Trump is turning it into a country club for the rich.”

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