USAupdated 1h ago3 min read
Trump Orders Immediate East Potomac Golf Links Renovation Despite Judge Ana Reyes Order
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Trump says renovation starts immediately despite federal judge's order. Judge Ana Reyes demanded answers and paused work pending court notification.
9 outlets told this the same way.
Outlets did split on Trump Urges New Mexico To Immediately Rename Itself New America →
Trump moves despite judge
US President Donald Trump said his administration would begin renovation work immediately on the East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C., even after a federal judge ordered the project could not proceed without prior court notification. Trump posted on Truth Social that “Work is scheduled to begin IMMEDIATELY!” and blasted US District Judge Ana Reyes as “a crazed lunatic,” while calling the case “ridiculous” and asserting his administration had “an absolute right” to proceed. US District Judge Ana Reyes had ruled earlier this year that the government must give notice before any substantive construction work on the golf course could proceed, and she issued an order halting the removal of trees at the site that she called “inexcusable.”
Trump said the work would start on November 15 and that the course would reopen in about 15 months, while Trump had earlier said it would begin in September. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward wrote in a filing that any redesign of the golf course is not an “agency action,” comparing it to “a decision to redesign all the art exhibits in a Smithsonian Museum.”
Judge demands answers
Federal Judge Ana C. Reyes pressed for testimony on Monday about the chain of decisions surrounding East Potomac Golf Links, as government lawyers sparred with her over what officials had told the court.
Reyes asked, “Do I believe the president of the United States or do I believe you?” after she said Trump had told the public there was a final plan while the government told her the renovation was still conceptual.
Reyes said, “I have, on the one hand, the president of the United States saying to the American public three times now,” and she followed that with a question about which account was correct.
Reyes ordered the government to explain whether it maintained its position that there is “no final agency action,” and that “at most” the president had given “preliminary thought” to the renovations.
The hearing ended without a decision, and Reyes said she was considering whether to order work halted at the site and, if so, how sweeping an order to issue.
What is at stake
The DC Preservation League brought a lawsuit in February to halt the administration’s takeover of East Potomac Golf Links, alleging the plan would violate environmental laws and “irreparably destroy a priceless piece of American history.” Trump pursued the renovation among multiple projects to reshape the White House and other Washington landmarks, and the golf course dispute became part of a broader pattern of legal conflict. Trump posted on Truth Social that “restoration work will begin” on 15 November despite Reyes’s court order to pause plans over environmental and historic preservation concerns.
The government removed about 500 trees from the site the next day after Reyes ordered a halt to tree removals, saying it would improve safety, restore its original design, and was part of a 2019 plan. Reyes ordered key members of the Republican administration to testify on the recent tree-cutting and whether those actions were tied to the president’s plans for the public links.