Protect DC's Historic Cherry Trees From the East Potomac Golf Renovation

The East Potomac Golf Links renovation needs to stop until you demand full transparency about what happens to Washington's oldest cherry tree grove. Renderings from Trump's June 29 site visit, obtained by The Washington Post, do not show the historic cherry grove or key park features. Neither Trump nor architect Tom Fazio has addressed the trees publicly. That silence is not reassuring — it's a red flag. These trees are not decorable scenery. They are part of a 1912 gift from Japan, a living symbol of international friendship that millions of people visit every year. Webster University professor Bill Hall called the groves "unquestionably, among the most iconic, admired and visited sites in our nation's capital and are irreplaceable." Save East Po has also flagged the complete absence of community input, no National Historic Preservation review, and no environmental studies — especially alarming given that East Potomac is a manmade peninsula already sinking into the Potomac River. A federal judge has already ordered that no more than 10 trees be cut without prior notice while litigation continues. That court order exists because the public cannot trust this administration to act responsibly here. Demand a full environmental review, a public accounting of which trees face removal, and a halt to any ground-breaking until those answers are provided.