Washington Post Uprooted by Trump Cutting Down Trees for DC Golf Course Improvement

Tree stump at DC golf course

The default approach to any news story since last January is that if President Trump does something, it must be wrong. Dismissing conflicting data and facts has been the reporting code during Trump-2.0, and at the Washington Post, they hold to this standard, even with the most innocuous of stories.

Now Trump is chopping down cherry trees, like he is George Washington going off his meds. This weekend we were all supposed to feel the outrage, courtesy of sports reporter Rick Maese.

It may seem odd that Maese is on the tree-felling beat, but since most of the alleged arboreal murder takes place along a golf course, it may be justified. The horror detailed is that improvements have been taking place along the course of the East Potomac Golf Links.

The president has pledged that he would begin improvements on the course with a start date of September 1; however, dozens of trees have been seen cut down and removed. This would be where the Washington Post suggests we are to become enraged.

Of course, since the administration is undertaking – well, anything – there has been a lawsuit brought forward. This, even as Maese asserted that tree removal is a common practice with course renovations. Regardless, a legal challenge was brought in February to halt any progress on the plans.

Initially, the filing was about debris from the White House East Wing being placed in the park where the course rests, but it also addressed the plans to renovate the three courses and bring those up to championship standards. This…was considered bad.

The group also argues that the administration’s plans to convert East Potomac into a golf course suitable for professional tournaments would produce a venue with inflated maintenance costs that is beyond the skill of most recreational players. The envisioned course would be of a piece with the numerous championship-style golf courses that President Trump, who fancies himself an avid golfer, owns elsewhere, the lawsuit states. “Predictably, the cost of a tee time at such a venue would inflate accordingly.”

This has already been swept aside. A new agreement was forged so the trust that operates the golf courses would remain in control, and the price point for hacks on the links would not spike.

The other dose of outrage concerns the removal of trees in the process. But even in presenting this upfront as a problem, Maese eventually concludes much of the work was justified. “Tree removal is common in major golf course renovations, often to widen playing corridors, improve sight lines, and allow more sunlight and air to reach the turf.”

An administration official also noted that many of the trees were problematic. They asserted it was “selective removal of hazard trees, non-native invasive trees, and declining and dying trees that cannot be brought back to good health through any degree of intervention.” Rick Maese even confirmed this to be the case.

Many of the remaining stumps were visibly hollow or showed signs of decay. In other areas, the stumps had already been ground down, leaving only circles of dirt. On the 13th hole of the Blue Course, a crew took down a large tree that showed clear signs of decay.

The press has been excitable over the removal of the famed cherry blossom trees, and Maese somewhat confirms this to be the case. “Among the most conspicuous was a cherry tree near the 14th green of the Blue Course.” That would be – one. And as the press this summer had been rather frothing over the timber attacks, what was rarely, if ever, noted were the details, of course.

The supposed historical offense committed by the president had to elide the small detail that cherry blossom trees carry an average lifespan of 30-40 years. So no, any trees planted by First Lady Helen Taft cannot be affected. There is one additional fact that every one of these barking bromides from the press had to avoid.

The nation had been gifted 250 new cherry blossom trees from the nation of Japan for our nation’s 250th celebrations. The Washington Post has known this.  That sure sounds like welcome, beneficial, and positive news on the landscape. But as we know, that type of reporting concerning this administration is not permitted.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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