Trump admin sued by canoeists over river restrictions near golf course
The Trump administration is in hot water with a group of canoeists who have filed a lawsuit claiming the US president’s visits to his golf course in Northern Virginia have caused illegal restrictions on the Potomac River.
The Canoe Cruisers Association of Greater Washington claimed in the suit filed on Thursday that the restrictions imposed by the Coast Guard when Donald Trump is playing at the course are unlawful.
A “permanent security zone” is in effect when Trump takes to the fairways at his National Golf Club in Sterling, preventing the use of a section of river nearby.
The canoeing group, which numbers more than 250 members, claims that new, more stringent two-mile access restrictions were imposed in June 2017 without public comment, according to USA Today.
The lawsuit is backed by non-profit group Democracy Forward and is calling on the US District Court in Maryland to declare the restrictions unlawful.
The defendants are named as US Coast Guard commandant Karl L. Schultz and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen.
Trump’s visits to the course have resulted in 32 occasions when access to parts of the river was blocked, according to the lawsuit, and there were a reported 636 complaints made in the first month alone after the new restrictions came into force.
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“There are other places the President can play golf that do not have the negative consequences to the public proposed in this rule,” said Linette Lander, one of the commenters on the claim, USA Today reports.
“Restricting a public river to the extent proposed is unnecessary and unreasonable. The public should not be deprived of the recreational opportunities at close proximity to an urban area that are afforded by the Potomac River just so that a wealthy individual with many options can play golf everywhere,” she added.
Trump’s love of golf is well known, and he owns more than a dozen courses around the world.
A number of websites have been set up to track his golfing activity since becoming president. An NBC tracker claims that Trump has been at his golf properties on 154 of his 608 days in office so far.
