A federal judge temporarily barred the Trump administration from altering East Potomac Park Monday, dealing a setback to the president's plan to redevelop the municipal D.C. golf course into a championship venue.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes extended an initial two-week halt on tree removal, ordering the government not to cut, prune, damage or impair any trees without a court order. The injunction also mandates ten business days' written notice before closing or making any irreversible modification to the park while litigation continues.
The ruling came after weeks of heated hearings and court filings triggered by the government's removal of 430 trees at the course with less than a day's notice. During proceedings, federal officials insisted the tree clearing was unrelated to Trump's renovations—even as the president touted the project on social media that same morning.
Judge Reyes spotlighted the contradiction in her 70-page opinion: "Rarely, if ever, has the United States Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting president. And yet, here we are."
Trump responded late Monday on Truth Social, saying the Department of the Interior will appeal. He reiterated plans to start construction Nov. 15, which would close the park for 15 months. "To have to give advanced notices to a judge who has no expertise in Golf, Architecture, Landscaping, Construction, or anything else," Trump wrote, signaling his irritation.
The D.C. Preservation League and local golfers sued to block the renovations earlier this year. The ruling strengthens their position and that of a growing grassroots movement fighting to protect the course and its surrounding recreational areas, used by runners, cyclists and birders.
Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, the nonprofit representing the plaintiffs, said: "We are grateful the court intervened to stop the Trump-Vance administration's greed and lawlessness while the case continues, and we are eager to argue the case in court."
