Social Media Posts Push False Claim of Trump Chopping Down 60 Cherry Trees

FactCheck.org examined viral claims that the Trump administration cut down sixty historic cherry trees at East Potomac Park to build a golf course, and found the number does not hold up. The Washington Post article that spawned the claim documented roughly sixty trees removed overall, but only one was identified as a cherry tree, a count an advocacy group called Save East Po says matches what it can confirm with certainty.

Trump announced on Truth Social that renovations to East Potomac Golf Links would begin September 1 to build what he called one of the greatest golf courses in the world, capable of hosting major tournaments. As of early September no major renovation had begun and tee times remained bookable. The project faces a lawsuit from a preservation group and two D.C.-area golfers.

The Department of the Interior described the tree removals as routine maintenance targeting hazardous, invasive, or dying trees, and the contractor RTEC Treecare posted a notice denying it removed any cherry trees. Neither Interior nor the National Park Service would clarify to FactCheck whether any cherry trees were among the roughly sixty removed. The historic 1910 cherry grove's fate under the redesign, which Interior Secretary Doug Burgum credited to Trump-affiliated golf designer Tom Fazio, remains uncertain.

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