A Washington canoeing group filed a lawsuit against the Coast Guard on Thursday alleging that President Trump’s use of his golf course along the Potomac River leads to unlawful restrictions of the waterways.
The Canoe Cruisers Association of Greater Washington listed in their lawsuit 32 times when a two-mile zone was off-limits to the public when Trump was visiting his golf course in northern Virginia between June 24, 2017 to Sept. 8 of this year, according to USA Today.
The group wants the U.S. District Court in Maryland to declare the Coast Guard rule, which prevents the use of the river when the president is at the course, illegal.
“It is unconscionable that public access to this important stretch of the Potomac, which serves as a training ground for generations of paddlers, is cast into doubt so the President can play golf at his whim,” said Canoe Cruisers Association chairman Barbara Brown in a statement.
A “permanent security zone” is set in place when Trump is at his golf course. Typically, the president visits on weekends and holidays when the river is at its busiest.
The lawsuit claims that there was a rule change instituted by the Coast Guard in June 2017 establishing the security zone. Before the change, the zone was less expansive.
The rule was put in place without public comment. After it was instituted, however, there were more than 600 comments that sought a change in the rule during a one-month comment period last year.
Some people complained that there would be no need for such a vast perimeter if Trump had not removed more than 450 trees along the Potomac when he purchased the course in 2009.
The lawsuit is backed by Democracy Forward, a progressive nonprofit group that has filed multiple lawsuits against the Trump administration.
