The DC Preservation League and two area residents are legally challenging the Trump administration's takeover of East Potomac Park and its golf course in Washington, D.C.
The group filed an injunction in U.S. District Court on Friday seeking to protect the public space from the administration's plans to overhaul East Potomac Golf Links into a championship-level course. The lawsuit comes after truckloads of dirt and debris from the White House East Wing ballroom demolition project were dumped onto the East Potomac grounds without explanation. That dumping, the plaintiffs contend, is "unlawful and possibly hazardous" due in part to the potential presence of lead and asbestos.
In the filing reviewed by The Athletic, the plaintiffs argue that the administration's actions go against Congress's initial intent when it established the park in 1897 and declared it would be "forever held and used as a park for the recreation and pleasure of the people."
"The East Potomac Golf Links is a unique cultural landscape that reflects the history of recreation in the nation's capital. Altering its historic character would undermine a site meant to be accessible to the public," Rebecca Miller, Executive Director of DC Preservation League, said in a new release announcing the lawsuit.
"Historic preservation is about maintaining the qualities that make a site an asset -- affordability, openness, and architectural significance -- rather than allowing for exclusive redevelopment. Losing this golf course would significantly impact our shared history and limit public access to one of the District's vital recreation and green spaces."
On Dec. 31, the administration issued a formal notice of termination to the National Links Trust (NLT), a nonprofit that held a 50-year lease from the National Park Service to operate East Potomac Golf Links and two other public courses in D.C. with relatively affordable tee times.
The plaintiffs listed in the filings are the Preservation League, Dave Roberts and Alex Dickson. They are represented by Democracy Forward, a legal organization "that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy and public education, and regulatory engagement."
Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the National Park Service's acting director, Jessica Brown, are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
"We are acting to save this priceless part of our national park system from being another casualty of a reckless administration," Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a statement. "We are honored for the partnership of our plaintiffs in fighting back against this unlawful assault on our cherished public spaces."
In their filing, the plaintiffs say the National Park Service has begun dumping 30,000 cubic yards of fill on East Potomac Golf Links. The plaintiffs say this constitutes "unlawful and possibly hazardous dumping" of wires, pipes, bricks and other material from the East Wing demolition.
They specifically highlight the issue of the debris containing lead and asbestos, given the time of the East Wing's construction and renovation in 1942. Those contaminants, they argue, could seep into groundwater and soil. On that point, they cite an ongoing lawsuit by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization against the National Park Service that challenges the lack of an environmental assessment to identify carcinogens and lead, as well as comments by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said on "Meet the Press" in October that "parts of the East Wing could have been asbestos."
The group also argues that the administration's plans to convert East Potomac into a golf course suitable for professional tournaments would produce a venue with inflated maintenance costs that is beyond the skill of most recreational players.
"The envisioned course would be of a piece with the numerous championship-style golf courses that President Trump, who fancies himself an avid golfer, owns elsewhere," the lawsuit states. "Predictably, the cost of a tee time at such a venue would inflate accordingly."
Previously, the administration claimed its termination notice was because the National Links Trust didn't renovate the course on time. However, a section of the lease agreement states that such timelines are subject to compliance. Democratic lawmakers previously questioned whether the administration failed to give the nonprofit a mandatory 45-day cure period to address potential violations, even though the NLT didn't believe it had violated the lease anyway.
"The public has a right to know what legal justification the administration has for this takeover, as well as any public health and safety risks resulting from their activities on these properties. These historic courses should remain safe and accessible to the local community, instead of whatever vanity project Trump has next in mind," Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said in a statement.
Van Hollen was one of four Democrats who addressed a public letter to Burgum and Brown stating that the administration illegally terminated the NLT's lease.