The nonprofit organization running Washington’s federally owned public golf courses retained a lobbying firm after the Trump administration terminated its lease on the three courses.
National Links Trust (NLT) hired the firm Forbes Tate Partners days after the National Park Service’s Dec. 30, 2025, decision regarding the lease, the firm said in a disclosure form filed Tuesday with Congress. The termination was part of President Donald Trump’s moves to be more directly involved in the future of the historic courses.
NLT, which had a 50-year agreement to renovate and operate the courses, disputed the Trump administration’s arguments that it failed to pay rent and was taking too long to complete the renovations.
But the organization has thus far not given any indications of what concrete steps it may take, if any, to fight the moves. Before hiring Forbes-Tate, NLT also retained the law firm Williams & Connolly but has not filed any lawsuit.
