Under President Donald Trump, policies and places rooted in African American history, autonomy, or self-determination have been stripped for parts or brought under his personal control. Now, that campaign has landed on sacred ground in Washington: Langston Golf Course.
In one of his first major moves targeting Washington’s civic infrastructure, Trump’s administration terminated the 50-year lease of the National Links Trust (NLT), the nonprofit that has operated Langston, Rock Creek Park Golf Course, and East Potomac Golf Links since 2020. The Interior Department accused the nonprofit of defaulting on its obligations.
The group flatly denies it, saying it invested more than $8.5 million in capital improvements and followed the terms of its agreement. The termination immediately halted renovation projects and opened the door for federal takeover.
“We are fundamentally in disagreement with the administration’s characterization of NLT as being in default under the lease,” National Links Trust wrote in a statement. “We have always had a productive and cooperative working relationship with the National Park Service and have worked hand in hand on all aspects of our golf course operations and development projects.”
Langston is not simply a public golf course tucked along the Anacostia River. It was built in 1939 because Black golfers were barred, harassed, and humiliated at whites-only courses across the country. It exists because exclusion demands resistance and survives because the Black community refused to let it disappear.
“They are taxpayers, they are citizens, and they have a right to play golf on public courses on the same basis as whites,” Interior Secretary Harold Ickes said in 1941. “The cold fact is that we have not kept it up.”
Trump has been explicit about his desire to put his stamp on Washington — The Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, the White House grounds, and now, public golf.
Since returning to the presidency, Trump has reportedly spent more than $30 million in taxpayer money on golf trips, many of them to properties he owns or profits from. While he lectures about efficiency and accountability, public dollars have flowed freely to his leisure, his resorts, and his brand. Langston, by contrast, has survived decades of neglect and underinvestment while serving generations of Black golfers shut out elsewhere.
Further, Tiger Woods has agreed to assist in the redesign and renovation of Langston as part of a Trump-backed public golf project, according to a White House adviser.
“I’m responsible for redesigning it and making it better than it ever was,” adviser Ed Russo said. “And I’m proud to say that Tiger Woods has agreed to help me do that.”
Woods built his legacy on the shoulders of Black pioneers like Lee Elder, who broke barriers in a sport that never wanted Black faces on its fairways. Yet now, he has aligned himself with a president whose record toward Black history is one of hostility and erasure.
After having witnessed the president’s trends when touching public spaces — costs rising, access shrinking and the community being pushed aside — local golfers fear for the future of Langston.
“My hope is that the historic Langston golf course continues to offer opportunities for people to come and play,” Craig Kirby said.
Others see the move as naked power.
“National Links Trust has invested a lot of money in modernizing and redoing Langston,” golfer Lou Manzo said. “To have all that taken away on a whim is very frustrating.”
Trump has claimed that if he takes control, District residents would pay lower rates. Coming from a man who owns 16 golf properties worldwide and has built his brand on exclusivity, the promise rings hollow.
Langston Golf Course was born because Black Americans were denied space, enduring segregation, hostility and neglect because the community refused to surrender it. Now, under the banner of improvement, Trump is attempting to absorb it.
“While this termination is a major setback, we remain stubbornly hopeful that a path forward can be found that preserves affordable and accessible public golf in the nation’s capital for generations to come,” NLT said.