A federal judge in Washington has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with plans to overhaul East Potomac Park, ordering a halt to tree cutting and mandating advanced notice before any major changes can occur.
In a 70-page ruling issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes barred officials from destroying or harming any more trees on the municipal course. She also required the administration to provide 10 business days of written notice before making any irreversible alterations while a lawsuit over the property plays out, NPR and NBC News reported.
On Tuesday, Reyes ordered Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward back to court, demanding clarification on whether his earlier representations that there were no closure plans remain true, according to ABC News. The judge scheduled a hearing for Friday or Monday to evaluate the government’s compliance with her injunction.
Clashing accounts over renovation plans
The order stems from a legal challenge brought by the D.C. Preservation League and two local golfers, who are represented by the nonprofit Democracy Forward. The group sued earlier this year to halt a sweeping redevelopment that aims to turn the public park into an 18-hole championship-caliber venue designed by architect Tom Fazio.
Tensions escalated after federal crews cleared 430 trees over a single weekend with minimal warning, NPR reported. Justice Department lawyers and witnesses from the Department of the Interior insisted in court hearings that the felling was routine maintenance unconnected to any final redesign plan.
Hours before one hearing, however, President Donald Trump posted on social media that construction would start immediately. Trump also announced that the grounds would shut down for 15 months starting Nov. 15.
Reyes highlighted the stark contradiction between the administration’s sworn testimony and the commander in chief’s public statements.
“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.”
The judge concluded that an overarching redevelopment plan had been finalized well before mid-October, calling the administration’s explanation for clearing hundreds of healthy trees “pretextual,” according to NPR.
Environmental review and looming appeal
Reyes found that the administration likely breached federal environmental requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act by improperly dividing the project into isolated components to evade formal oversight, ABC News reported. Administration lawyers had earlier acknowledged the necessity of environmental reviews before pivoting to argue that the actions were immune to court scrutiny under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Trump fiercely criticized the injunction, calling the required notice unconstitutional and announcing plans to appeal the decision immediately.
Speaking to reporters Monday night after a campaign rally in Mississippi, Trump contended that the existing public course is dangerous because its narrow fairways sit too close together, ABC News reported. He added that the redesigned layout would eventually host premier tournaments while remaining open to local residents at discounted rates.
“We believe this Project is totally ‘as of right,’ and that the judge does not have the Constitutional Right to ‘ask for or receive notices,’ which are time-consuming, unnecessary, expensive, and unconstitutional,” Trump wrote on social media.
Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman praised the injunction as an essential measure to safeguard the public park from lasting damage during ongoing litigation.
The Justice Department must now respond to Reyes’ order regarding whether the park will indeed close in November, as the administration prepares its appeal before the D.C. Circuit Court.
