A federal judge weighing the future of a D.C. golf course doesn’t want to be Amy Poehler, but Trump might be interested as he remakes parks
A federal judge weighing the future of an expansive Washington park insisted this week she had no intention of becoming Amy Poehler, the actress who spent seven seasons memorably playing the head of a local parks and recreation department. But President Donald Trump might be interested in the role. Shortly after the United States and Iran exchanged fire on Thursday, Trump made a quick jaunt to the National Mall to review the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool that he ordered repainted a color he describes as “American flag blue.” The project has been on his mind lately. During an hour-plus speech Monday to small-business owners, Trump spent about nine minutes talking about the paint job, detailing the granite floor and boasting that he whittled the renovation’s cost to $1.9 million from what he said was an initial $350 million estimate. Trump’s next project might be East Potomac Park, home to an affordable, accessible public golf course with views of the Washington Monument. The Republican president has talked of transforming it into a posh “U.S. Open-caliber course.” Signs were posted this week warning of a disruption and preservation advocates took the government to court as debris dumped there from the White House East Wing demolition tested positive for lead. By late Friday, the nonprofit that operates the course said it would continue managing the space until the National Park Service begins a “historic restoration.” Meanwhile, the White House told a planning agency that it would cost taxpayers at least $7.5 million to follow through on Trump’s plan to paint the granite Eisenhower Executive Office Building white. And that was just this week in Washington’s extreme makeover. All the president’s projects Over the past year, Trump has bulldozed the East Wing to make way for a ballroom. His name was added to the facades of the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Kennedy Center, which he plans to close for a two-year renovation. His face ador