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Trump Administration Terminates National Links Trust’s 50-Year Lease for D.C. Public Golf Courses

The nonprofit disputes default claims, saying approved upgrades offset rent obligations.

Tall trees tower over golfers on the Rock Creek Park Golf Course on October 31, 2023, in Washington, DC.
A golfer tees off as a dump truck exits a makeshift dump site after dropping soil and debris from the East Wing of the White House, where U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed ballroom is being built, at the East Potomac Golf Course in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 23, 2025. REUTERS/Jessica Koscielniak
Former President Donald Trump takes a swing during a practice round of the LIV Golf Bedminster golf tournament at Trump National Bedminster.
US President Donald Trump, on the first tee during the official opening of the New Course, the second championship course at Trump International Golf Links, on the Menie Estate in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire. The president is opening up a new course dedicated to his Scottish mother, who grew up on the Isle of Lewis, as part of his five-day private trip to the country. Picture date: Tuesday July 29, 2025. 81132044 (Press Association via AP Images)

Overview

  • Interior issued a termination letter Tuesday ending the National Links Trust’s 2020 agreement to run East Potomac, Rock Creek and Langston on federal land.
  • The department cited missed capital improvements, unpaid rent and the absence of a satisfactory cure plan as grounds for default.
  • National Links Trust says it invested $8.5 million, reports that rounds and revenue more than doubled, and will maintain daily operations as long-term renovations halt, with Rock Creek construction demobilizing.
  • A lease copy reviewed by CNN shows approved capital projects could offset rent, and the group says those offsets were approved by the National Park Service.
  • President Trump has suggested he might redevelop the courses, but no federal plan has been announced, and coverage places the move within his broader remaking of Washington institutions as the nonprofit weighs legal options.