A general manager of a Trump golf club has been quietly making suggestions on the president’s latest renovation project and even helped recruit one of the contractors for the job, according to a new report.
David Schutzenhofer, the general manager of Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, has been helping guide the renovation of the massive Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, President Donald Trump’s newest fixation, according to federal documents reviewed by The New York Times and a government spokesperson.
Schutzenhofer’s LinkedIn page indicates that he has been heading the Trump golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, since 2006. He is a private citizen with no publicly known experience in engineering or architecture.
In mid-April, Ohio-based firm Greenwater Services received a $1.7-million no-bid contract to install a permanent purification system at the pool. The Times reported that the contract came after Schutzenhofer spoke to Greenwater’s chief executive on Jan. 28, saying that he would discuss the company’s plan with the National Park Service.
The Interior Department confirmed to The Times that Schutzenhofer has advised the government on efforts to repair the pool, which has long been plagued by leaks and algae blooms, without becoming a temporary government employee.
“Mr. Schutzenhofer is unpaid and is volunteering his time to offer suggestions on this project because he is an American patriot,” agency spokesperson Katie Martin told the outlet, adding that he is a world-renowned leader in the hospitality industry and that he did not “direct” any federal contracts.
In a separate statement to the Daily Beast, an Interior Department spokesperson shifted blame to former President Barack Obama and attacked The Times for its reporting.
“Barack Obama spent over $34 million over 18 months on a failed effort to fix the Reflecting Pool. It was disgusting days after reopening,” the statement read. “Now the failing New York Times wants to accuse a world-renowned leader in the hospitality industry of things he is not even doing.”
“Mr. Schutzenhofer is unpaid and is volunteering his time to offer suggestions on this project because he is an American Patriot. To insinuate he is directing government contracts or acting as a federal employee is categorically false,” the spokesperson added. The Daily Beast has reached out to the New York Times for comment.
Trump National Golf Club Bedminster and Greenwater Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
The White House, meanwhile, simply talked up the pool repair project when reached for comment.
“Thanks to President Trump, the Reflecting Pool will be restored to its proper glory! The restoration effort will be completed ahead of America’s 250th celebrations and for a fraction of the cost that the former Presidents Obama and Biden squandered only to worsen its condition,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said.
