A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from closing East Potomac Park in Washington, ruling that the move appeared intended to clear the way for a new championship golf course.
Judge Ana C. Reyes ordered the park’s golf courses, paths and picnic areas to remain open and accessible to the public for two weeks. The administration will not be required to operate the course while legal proceedings continue, but may close areas considered hazardous if it informs the court within 24 hours.
President Trump had announced that the municipal golf course and surrounding park would shut on Sunday ahead of renovation work. In a 30-page order, Judge Reyes said most of the government’s stated reasons for closing the entire site appeared “transparently pretextual”.
“The Department of the Interior has progressed from removing the trees to removing the people,” she wrote.
The ruling is the latest development in a long-running dispute over the future of the historic course. A preservationist organisation and local golfers brought the case in February, arguing that the proposed project threatened an affordable and accessible recreational facility.
Judge Reyes had previously focused on whether the administration could remove trees at the site. Saturday’s decision was her first order preventing wider work at East Potomac Park.
The judge has repeatedly questioned government lawyers over whether officials concealed steps taken to advance Mr Trump’s plans for the peninsula, including the removal of the public golf course, a picnic area at Hains Point, and running and cycling paths.
She appointed a former US attorney last week as a special master to investigate whether officials at the Justice and Interior departments improperly withheld information from the court in October.
During a five-hour hearing on Friday, Judge Reyes told lawyers she had seen reports alleging that whistleblowers believed some federal agencies had destroyed documents after the midterm elections. She warned that she would begin contempt proceedings in a “zeptosecond” if the Interior Department had destroyed records in defiance of preservation orders.
The administration has argued that years of neglect left the course dangerous and that closure was necessary to “protect life and limb”. Adam R.F. Gustafson, a government lawyer, said renovation would not necessarily begin immediately because environmental reviews and other preparations were still required.
“When the president speaks, the agency listens,” he said. “But the agency has to comply with law.”
The National Links Trust, which currently manages the course, is due to relinquish control on Sunday after Mr Trump made clear that he intended to close it. Mr Gustafson said safety concerns could increase once the organisation stopped operating the site.
Mr Trump has repeatedly said the replacement course would be designed by Tom Fazio, an architect who has worked on other courses owned by the Trump Organisation. Asked about Mr Fazio’s involvement during Friday’s hearing, Stanley Woodward Jr, a senior Justice Department official, said he would be “shocked to learn there is any contract with Fazio”.
Mr Gustafson said closing the park would not make the proposed design more likely to proceed, accusing Judge Reyes of “bootstrapping one decision to a future decision”. The judge remained sceptical, saying the government had described its actions as routine maintenance while appearing to move towards the overhaul announced by Mr Trump.
In her order, Judge Reyes concluded that the administration’s explanations appeared to form part of a longer-term effort to begin construction. “President Trump directed this closure for one reason: so that work could begin on a new Fazio Design to replace the current East Potomac Golf Course,” she wrote.
