Federal judge orders Trump administration to halt work for a day on historic DC golf course
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes on Monday ordered a 24-hour halt to tree-cutting at the East Potomac Golf Course, a historic D.C. course that has been part of President Donald Trump’s plans to remake the city.
Reyes issued the order following a tense three-hour hearing in which she blistered the government for having deceived her with its actions over the holiday weekend.
Reyes said the 24-hour temporary order could be extended to 14 days if necessary. It was limited to one day while the government tries to find a key Trump administration official to discuss why a massive tree-cutting at the park needed to occur over the holiday weekend, with little notification to plaintiffs in a lawsuit trying to halt renovation plans or the judge.
It’s the latest example of the erosion of trust between the government and the independent judiciary, as the Trump administration tries to steamroll scrutiny of its actions, from the White House ballroom to immigration enforcement.
The hearing started with a blistering 15-minute statement from Reyes, who has declined repeated motions from the plaintiffs to halt work by the administration out of concern that its strategy has seemed to be move ahead on projects despite court actions.
“I am thoroughly unamused right now," Reyes said. “I do not know how I could have made it any plainer that I did not want what was to happen, to happen.” The judge added, “I have given the government every single benefit of the doubt that it would not do precisely what it has done.”
She told the government's lawyers sharply, “I wanted you all to be better than you have been.”
The emergency hearing on a holiday expanded as the judge ordered the government to get various participants in the decision-making process into the hearing remotely.
Reyes plans to hold another hearing Tuesday and wants to hear from Greg Wischer, deputy chief of staff at the Interior Department. Wischer pushed for the work to be done urgently, according to testimony from Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the National Park Service.
Reyes and plaintiff’s attorney Abbe Lowell raised numerous questions about the timeline and chain of command for the decision and whether the witnesses were aware of other plans by the administration.
Kevin Griess, the superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, cited a 2019 National Park Service Cultural Landscape Report as the guide for the work.
Lands said it was part of Trump’s 2025 order to make D.C. safe and beautiful. Under questioning from Reyes, he acknowledged that while other city golf courses were also mentioned in the Cultural Landscape Report, there had been no discussions of work at them.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
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