US Capitol. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
A plan that threatens some of Washington’s historic cherry trees to make way for a golf course planned by President Donald Trump is “very unfortunate,” said the great-grandson of William Howard Taft, who received the Japanese trees more than a century ago.
“I don’t understand the idea of a championship golf course near the nation’s capital. There are already world-class golf courses there,” said former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, who served from 1999 to 2007. He is the great-grandson of William Howard Taft, 27thvol president.
“This is not the time to destroy cherry blossom trees that play an important role in the cultural alliance between the United States and Japan… This is very disturbing.”
Taft, like Trump, a Republican, is an avid outdoorsman and golfer. He said cutting down the cherry trees is an affront to his family heritage and a threat to Washington’s beauty as an international tourist attraction.
“They are an American institution,” Taft said. “People from all over the world come to the Cherry Blossom Festival.”
The cherry trees were given by the Japanese to former President Taft and his wife Nellie, who had ambitions to beautify the nation’s capital. She admired the blooming trees when her husband was the presidentially appointed Governor General of the Philippines.
Some of these historic trees and others could be removed to make way for Trump’s plan to transform the East Potomac Golf Links public golf course into a “championship” facility capable of hosting major tournaments such as the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup.
The plan would also eliminate the riverside bike path and other public recreation areas. Trump visited the golf course on June 28 with government officials and golf course planners. The project could start as early as September 1.
Ohio’s association with endangered Japanese cherry trees dates back to 1912–1913, when 3,020 seedlings were planted along the Tidal River Basin from the banks of the Arakawa River on the outskirts of Tokyo.
“Without the President and Nellie Taft, these trees would not exist,” the former governor said. “They make Washington a more beautiful place.”
In 2000, Bob Taft attended an emotional ceremony in Japan during his first overseas trade trip as governor. He joined Yukiki Sohma, daughter of former Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki, to plant an Ohio dogwood tree in a Tokyo park across from the building that houses Japan’s legislative assembly.
“Times are changing, but flowers will remain,” Sohma said at the time in an article published in The. Columbus’s shipment.
