Washington DC—Hundreds of trees, some over 100 years old, were cut down over the weekend as plans seemed to get underway to convert East Potomac Park Links Golf Course near Haines Point into “one of the greatest golf courses in the world.” Giant pines, sycamores, elms, and white oaks were among those cut down and still lying on the fairway of the existing 18-hole golf course as of Monday afternoon.
Video taken at East Potomac Park near Haines Point Monday afternoon revealed scenes of scores of trees still lying on the ground. Nearby, a hundred or more other ancient trees not yet cut, were wrapped in yellow plastic tape, slated for future cut and removal. Along several of the central fairways, felled tree trunks were stacked and lined up for removal or milling. Five foot piles of mulched trees stood beside some of the cut trunks. Many trunks still oozed with fresh sap, or still had intact branches and leafing not yet showing signs of wilt, an indication they had been recently cut.
None of the equipment used in the massive tree removal project was visible in the park. There were no signs of any tree cutters, saws, trucks, milling equipment, or other equipment used for tree removal anywhere in the park.
On the golf course sports teams continued their golf rounds as if there was nothing amiss. The course appeared much more visually open than it had before the tree cut project began. Several golfers yelled out that the cutters had left the trees where they fell without removing them from along the fairway. The fairways were damp from a Sunday heavy rain.
The East Potomac Park golf course renovation project has been In the works since early 2026. The D.C. Preservation League filed suit against the Department of the Interior in February 2026, the respondent in U.S. National Parks Service (NPS) legal claims. U.S. Federal District Judge Ana Reyes was assigned to adjudicate the case. Part of the suit involved the dumping of hundreds of tons of debris and waste from the East Wing demolition of the White House. None of the East Wing debris was tested for toxins or other chemicals incompatible for a public park. The destruction of the White House East Wing is yet another suit ongoing in the courts.
In an earlier order, Judge Reyes instructed the NPS to give a reasonable notice if it planned to close the golf course or if it planned to cut down 10 or more trees. However, the NPS gave a 4:55 pm notice on Friday, October 9, just five minutes before the close of business that day, that it intended to begin cutting 525 trees the next morning. Its notice was also given a day before the beginning of a 3-day holiday weekend, which would give contractors time enough to progress substantially with the project before court would reconvene on Tuesday, October 13.
But Judge Reyes intervened anyway. In an emergency video hearing, an obviously angered Judge Reyes railed and raised her voice at government attorneys, saying, “I trusted you all to not do precisely what you did.”
The government attorneys said they had cut 400 trees before Judge Reyes ordered an immediate stop to the tree cutting. Their response to her question as to what justification they had was that the massive tree removal was part of a planned removal scheduled in 2019. This was something Judge Reyes did not accept as a justification to remove the trees.
“What has happened has caused the government to lose all credibility in this case,” said Judge Reyes. The judge further said she would proceed with contempt proceedings if any further tree removal continued before Tuesday morning.
A statement posted by Rebecca Miller, Executive Director of DC Preservation League website read, in part, “The DC Preservation League and two local residents are taking legal action to protect East Potomac Park and its golf course, challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful and possibly hazardous dumping at the park as part of an effort to convert the public recreation space into an exclusive, high-end golf course. East Potomac Park is seen as a model for public golf courses in America, and is still the most used public golf course in Washington, D.C.”
The White House, via the Department of the Interior, terminated the lease enjoyed by National Links Trust, a nonprofit, to upgrade the golf course to a high end golf course, which would by its nature limit access to the public. Currently there is a miniature golf course, tennis courts, basketball courts, a swimming pool, bike paths, and public access to East Potomac Park. Most if not all of this public access would be eliminated under the current upgrade.
Riverbend Landscapes and Tree Service trucks were depicted on East Potomac Park on Saturday morning and into the afternoon as the cutting progressed. A check of the tree service website shows the company was fully licensed and equipped to handle a project this size. However it was not clear if there were other contractors involved in this massive project or if this company was a subcontractor to another contractor in this project.
DCMediaGroup reached out to Riverbend Landscape and Tree Service to give them an opportunity to comment on their involvement in the tree cutting project, but had not heard back from them before publication.
On June 28, President Trump first announced his plans to convert the East Potomac Links Golf Course into a world class golf course. It will no doubt result in drawing high fare players and increasing golfing round costs at the renovated course.
Haines Point History Dates To Early 1900s
Haines Point, which sits at the tip of East Potomac Park and juts into the Potomac, was named after Army Corps of Engineers General, Peter C. Haines, designer of the Tidal Basin. East Potomac Park, the name given to the human made island, is presently 395 acres, but was originally much smaller. In 1906 it was only 14 acres. It was infilled, extended, and used as a nursery for the Conress in 1910. It was opened to the public in 1912 and construction of a road along the Potomac began later that year. The road was finished in 1914 along Washington Channel. The Island is between the Potomac and Washington Channel, a waterway extending past Fisherman’s Wharf and Fort McNair. The island is about 1 1/2 miles long.
In 1915 the Army Corps of Engineers landscaped East Potomac Park. It planted 46,650 shrubs, plants, and 203 Japanese cherry trees.
In 1917, the center of East Potomac Park was turned over to the Boy Scouts of America and made into a Victory Garden. It is likely that the giant long needle pine trees cut down on Saturday were trees planted by the BSA as that type of tree was their signature planting for many years.
As for the other numerous giant trees felled, they were likely planted by the Army Corps of Engineers during the 1915 planting, making some of the giant trees felled over 115 years old.
Consequence of Illegal Tree Cut
As for now there can be no undoing for the hundreds of ancient trees already cut and mulched or removed trees in opposition to the legal order from Judge Reyes. East Potomac Park has been forever changed. The trees already cut and still not removed must most likely be removed despite the judicial order.
This trend follows other irreversible actions by the White House in disregard of lower court orders at the East Wing of the White House, The Kennedy Center, and the Reflecting Pool.
DCMediaGroup coverage of the East Wing demolition here.
DCMG coverage of the reflecting pool here.
Coverage of the Kennedy Center here.
