A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from carrying out further major changes at East Potomac Park in Washington DC, halting plans to redevelop its municipal golf course into a championship-level venue.
US District Judge Ana Reyes extended an earlier temporary pause on tree removal, ordering the government not to cut down, substantially prune, damage or impair trees at the park without court approval.
The ruling follows the abrupt felling of 430 trees at East Potomac Golf Links with less than a day’s notice. The work triggered a legal challenge from the DC Preservation League and two local golfers, who argue that the redevelopment should be subject to federal environmental and historic preservation reviews.
Reyes also ordered the government to give at least 10 business days’ written notice before closing any part of the park or making an irreversible alteration while the case continues.
President Donald Trump said the Department of the Interior would appeal. In a post on Truth Social, he repeated his claim that construction would begin on November 15 and would require the park to close for 15 months.
Trump said the judge had “absolutely no right to hold up this very important and beautiful Project”. He also argued that requiring advance notice was not “fair, appropriate, or Constitutional”.
The 70-page judgment sharply criticised what Reyes described as contradictions between the president’s public statements and evidence given by government officials in court.
Trump had said online that work on the golf course would begin immediately. Administration lawyers later told the court that officials were not aware of any final renovation plan.
Reyes nevertheless concluded that a redevelopment proposal, referred to by the plaintiffs as the “Washington National Plan”, existed before October 15. She rejected the government’s explanation that the tree clearance was simply the implementation of vegetation recommendations made in a 2019 National Park Service report, describing that justification as “pretextual”.
“Rarely, if ever, has the United States Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting president,” Reyes wrote. “And yet, here we are.”
She said the government had failed to provide a compelling factual rebuttal and questioned the credibility of Gregory Wischer, a senior Interior Department official who had accompanied Trump and golf course architect Tom Fazio during a tour of the course in June.
Reyes wrote that officials appeared to be treating elements of the redevelopment as separate projects in order to avoid environmental scrutiny. She said the Interior Department had likely breached the National Environmental Protection Act by “impermissibly segmenting its review of the Plan’s environmental effects”.
Appeal threatens to delay East Potomac golf course redevelopment
The judge said the case had developed beyond a dispute about golf, requiring the court to reconcile Trump’s statements with sworn testimony from government employees and arguments made by Justice Department lawyers.
“By issuing this preliminary injunction, the Court does not end the round: it simply marks the ball until the parties can fully and fairly litigate this case,” she wrote.
Reyes added: “The Court earlier stated, ‘I am not the Lorax. I do not speak for the trees.’ The Court still does not speak for the trees. It speaks only for the rule of law.”
Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, which represents the plaintiffs, said they were grateful that the court had intervened and looked forward to arguing the case.
The redevelopment plan shown in a rendering would combine East Potomac’s three courses into one course covering much of the peninsula. It appears to remove the perimeter road used by runners and cyclists and has prompted concern among local golfers, birders and other park users about access to the area.
Trump has said the redesigned course would be capable of hosting events such as the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup, while remaining open to the public at a reduced rate for Washington DC residents.
