Trump Unveils Secretive Golf Plan After Zacharia’s Photo Fiasco
The president has got his hands on another D.C. fixture.
President Donald Trump has officially unveiled details of his latest Washington makeover, after his failed press secretary spoiled his big surprise.
Trump, 80, shared his plans to replace the current East Potomac Golf Links, located in D.C., with a new “World Class” course, posting a sketch of new design on Truth Social.
He said that the current course would close on Nov. 15, with construction expected to take approximately 15 months, despite an existing lawsuit over the project.
However, the sketch Trump shared on Truth Social on Sunday looked very much like an image Katie Zacharia tried to hide in a vanity post with the president after her five days as White House press security came to a premature end.
Donald Trump's golf design.
Donald Trump/Truth Social
Katie Zacharia's outgoing X post revealed a future Trump design plan.
Katie Zacharia/X
A close-up at the blurred image from Katie Zacharia's X post.
Katie Zacharia/X
Zacharia’s social media image with Trump featured an image she blurred out, before photo-shopping it totally out of a subsequent post, creating more suspicion.
Trump’s Sunday Truth Social post does not mention the lawsuit filed by the D.C. Preservation League and two golfers opposing the construction, which is scheduled to be heard in federal court on Monday.
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A federal judge told the Trump administration in July that they needed to present her with any plans to renovate the course, and not undertake work beforehand, according to the New York Times.
East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C., photographed in July.
Daniel Heuer/REUTERS
However, over 500 trees were felled on the course earlier this month by the National Park Service, with the court and those opposed to the renovation barely given any time to react.
Trump’s post claims the current course is “old, broken, dilapidated,” and of no further use.
“It is in very poor condition, with falling, dangerous, and disease infested trees and, importantly, a collapsing and hazardous seawall,” he wrote. “When the East Potomac Course was originally built, it was famous for no trees, with views of Washington, D.C., for all to see, but now, it is completely overgrown, dysfunctional, and unsafe.”
After Trump’s post, the Times said Judge Ana C. Reyes, who has presided over the case, ordered Trump’s Justice Department to address the president’s announcement with what they had said in court by Sunday at 8 p.m.
A golfer passes a felled tree at the historic East Potomac Golf Links last week.
Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS
Judge Reyes quoted a Justice Department lawyer who said on Friday that Trump had “at most” only given a “preliminary thought to” the future of the course.
Zacharia’s post, with what looked like Trump’s blurred plans, was posted on Friday evening. The Times reported that Trump, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and architect Tom Fazio were photographed at the site and studying blueprints in June. Fazio was named by Trump as the project’s architect in his Sunday post.
Some 500 trees were suddenly cut down at the course.
Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS
In a new court filing on Sunday evening, the Trump administration said the plan “is not final” as the Park Service has yet to complete its review, despite the president announcing a Nov. 15 date for “restoration” to begin.
Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. stated in the filing that any communications with Trump about his plans for the course should be protected under executive privilege.
Golfers walk by piles of logs and debris on the course at East Potomac Golf Links.
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Woodward also claimed that Reyes’ court order “mischaracterizes” the administration’s knowledge of Trump’s plans for the golf course, and added, “Defendants further maintain that any direct communication with the President would be protected by many constitutional-based privileges.”
Reyes then later denied the Trump administration’s request to remove her from the case. In denying the motion, Reyes said “the Government decided to remove over 500, healthy, non-invasive trees” from the course, and “waited until 4.55 p.m. on the Friday of a holiday weekend to give notice that it would begin removing trees within 15 hours.”
The judge admitted to being “furious” and “beyond disappointed” at the destruction of the trees, but said, “The Government has not met its burden to demonstrate that the Court’s actions and words demand disqualification.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Interior Department for comment.
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