Lawmakers criticize Trump’s bid to take over D.C. golf courses

Default notice issued to National Links Trust did not identify specific violations as required by the lease with the National Park Service.

With a takeover threat looming, Democratic lawmakers criticized the Trump administration’s apparent bid to wrest control of Washington’s public golf courses, with one congressman saying the default process that the government is using appears to break from the National Park Service’s lease requirements.

The 50-year lease between the National Park Service and nonprofit National Links Trust requires the government to identify specific violations and give the operator time to fix them before declaring a default. But the notice of default sent to the group Oct. 29 — issued by the Interior Department’s Solicitor’s Office — did not list any violations or outline any path to address the situation.

The lack of public explanation and recent comments from President Donald Trump have fueled concern that the administration is attempting to take control of the East Potomac, Langston and Rock Creek courses regardless of contractual obligations.

“There’s a reason why we have a process for issuing leases for things like the National Links Trust,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California), the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Natural Resources. “It’s a legitimate lease that is used to operate those courses owned by the Park Service. The lessee has been putting a lot of money and investments into it and reliance on that, and the idea that Trump would just swoop in and take these things over is very disruptive and obviously terrible policy in addition to what it says about his priorities.”

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By:  Rick Maese
Source: The Washington Post

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