Trump Outlines Rapid Plan to Close and Overhaul D.C. Golf Course

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorPresident Trump says work to tear up and rebuild East Potomac Golf Links starts in four weeks, and a lawsuit says wait.

2. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorFour weeks. That's quick for a golf course.

3. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorTrump says construction begins November fifteenth, and the course closes for about fifteen months until the new one opens, according to CBS News.

4. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorAnd what did he say was wrong with the old one?

5. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorIn a Sunday post he called it, quote, old, broke, dilapidated and of no further use or effect, according to The Washington Times.

6. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorOf no further use or effect. So it's a retirement, not a closure. Very dignified.

7. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorHow did we get here?

8. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThe course is more than a hundred years old, and the lawsuit says it's on the National Register of Historic Places.

9. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorWho's suing?

10. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThe D.C. Preservation League and two golfers, represented by Democracy Forward. A federal judge, Ana Reyes, halted tree-cutting until October twenty-sixth.

11. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorCutting how many trees, exactly?

12. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorGovernment lawyers said four hundred thirty trees came down on a Saturday with little notice, according to CBS News.

13. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorFour hundred thirty, all in one day.

14. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorThat's a lot of shade to lose before lunch.

15. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWho's affected? Local golfers, for one, and anyone who walks that land.

16. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorAnd the Justice Department has asked Judge Reyes to step aside, accusing her of bias and animus, according to The Washington Post.

17. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorSo the judge is being asked to leave the course too.

18. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorA White House spokesperson says the plan will, quote, restore glamour and prestige to these decrepit courses in our nation's capital.

19. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorGlamour and prestige. Such a clean way to say bulldozer. And who's actually building it?

20. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorFazio Design, which has designed more than two hundred courses, says The Washington Times.

21. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorTrump says he's told the PGA so it can plan major tournaments there.

22. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorTournaments. Before the first shovel. That's optimism I can respect.

23. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWhat to watch next: whether the judge's tree order gets extended past October twenty-sixth, and whether she stays on the case.

24. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorSo, the quick recap for someone just tuning in?

25. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThe president wants a new course built starting November fifteenth, and a judge, a lawsuit and four hundred thirty missing trees say not so fast.

26. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorFifteen months, and the first thing the new course gets is a lawsuit with its own tee time.