In the capital, where public land has long been shaped by the ambitions of whoever holds power, a federal judge has stepped between a presidential vision and the trees standing in its path. Ana Reyes, weighing a lawsuit over the renovation of the East Potomac Golf Links beside the Potomac, has ordered a halt to any further removal or damage while the courts decide whether the government skipped the environmental review the law requires. Her reasoning turns on a plain question that has grown heavier than the golf itself: whether official promises and sworn testimony can be trusted when the pres
Judge Extends Block on Tree Removal at D.C. Golf Course, Citing Rule of Law Over Trump's Renovation Plans
"This started as a case about golf. That good walk spoiled."
Mark
Why does a ruling about trees on a golf course matter beyond Washington?
Mimi
Because the judge framed it as a question of whether the government keeps its word to a court. She said she stepped in only because the government did what it had promised not to do.
Luke
Worth separating what she found from what's argued. The injunction and her findings are the court's. That the removals were part of the renovation is her finding, and the government disputed it.
Mark
What's the legal hook for the lawsuit?
Mimi
The National Environmental Policy Act. The D.C. Preservation League says the government never analyzed the project's impacts. Reyes found the group likely to succeed on that.
Luke
Likely to succeed is a preliminary standard. It's not a final ruling on the merits.
Mark
And the tree numbers?
Mimi
Nearly 430 were cut in one day, per the judge. She says the government wanted to remove over 500.
Luke
Those figures come from her opinion. The source doesn't give an independent count.
Mark
What about the bias claim?
Mimi
The government said she was hostile and asked her to step aside. She refused and said the trigger was the tree removal, not prejudice.
Luke
Both sides' characterizations are on record, but whether an appeals court sees bias is unknown.
Mark
What happens Nov. 15?
Mimi
Trump says the closure goes ahead. The injunction bars tree removal and requires 10 days' notice before irreparable changes, so how closure and construction fit with that is unclear.
Luke
Right, and no appeal has been described in detail yet. Only the intent to appeal is stated.
O Pulso
- Nearly 430 trees fell in a single day after the government announced removals with barely fifteen hours' notice, jolting the court and the plaintiffs.
- Judge Ana Reyes issued a 70-page preliminary injunction halting tree removal and demanding ten days' notice before any irreversible course changes.
- The D.C. Preservation League is likely to win its claim that the renovation skipped a required environmental review under federal law.
- Government lawyers and the president's public statements pulled in opposite directions, and the judge refused to accept the claim that the tree work was separate maintenance.
- Trump calls the ruling unconstitutional, vows an appeal, and insists the course will still close on November 15, setting up a collision in the appellate courts.
In the capital, where public land has long been shaped by the ambitions of whoever holds power, a federal judge has stepped between a presidential vision and the trees standing in its path. Ana Reyes, weighing a lawsuit over the renovation of the East Potomac Golf Links beside the Potomac, has ordered a halt to any further removal or damage while the courts decide whether the government skipped the environmental review the law requires. Her reasoning turns on a plain question that has grown heavier than the golf itself: whether official promises and sworn testimony can be trusted when the president's own words point elsewhere. The matter now moves toward appeal, with the course closure still planned for November and the question of who speaks for public land left open.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes barred the Trump administration from removing or damaging any trees at East Potomac Golf Links, the publicly owned course beside the Potomac River in Washington. Her 70-page preliminary injunction stays in force while a lawsuit brought by the D.C. Preservation League moves forward. The government must now give 10 days' notice before any irreparable change to the course.
The case grew out of President Trump's push to rebuild the course into a championship venue, a project the administration said would close in November for roughly 15 months. The tree felling is what drew the judge in. The government gave little warning, announcing on a holiday weekend afternoon that removal would begin within hours. Nearly 430 trees came down in a single day, and Reyes wrote that hundreds more would have followed but for a rain delay.
Reyes found the plaintiffs likely to show the renovation violates the environmental review requirement. She rejected the claim that the tree work was unrelated maintenance and did not find credible the account given by an Interior Department official. She also noted that government lawyers argued the challenge was premature while the president publicly described the project in definitive terms. The case, she wrote, had started as a case about golf, but it now required the court to weigh the president's assertions against sworn testimony.
The judge and the administration have been openly hostile. Government attorneys asked her to recuse herself, and she refused, pointing to the decision to remove more than 500 healthy trees rather than any sudden bias. Trump called the ruling unconstitutional and said he would appeal, insisting the course would still close on November 15. What happens next depends on the appeal and on whether that closing date survives the notice requirement.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes barred the Trump administration from removing or damaging any trees at East Potomac Golf Links, the publicly owned course beside the Potomac River in Washington. Her 70-page preliminary injunction came with a line that was bound to be quoted. She had said earlier in the case, "I am not the Lorax. I do not speak for the trees." Monday's ruling added that the court still does not speak for the trees, only for the rule of law.
The injunction stays in force while a lawsuit challenging the renovation moves through the courts. It also requires the government to give 10 days' notice before making any irreparable modification to the course. The D.C. Preservation League brought the suit, arguing that the government violated the National Environmental Policy Act by not analyzing the project's impacts.
President Trump has pushed for months to rebuild the course. He has described a "World Class Championship Golf Course" capable of hosting high-profile professional tournaments, and he has called the current layout "dysfunctional." The administration said the course would close for construction in November and reopen in 15 months. The president later said work would begin "IMMEDIATELY."
The tree cutting is what drew the judge in. Earlier this month, the government gave the court and the plaintiffs little notice before felling began. Reyes wrote that it waited until 4:55 p.m. on the Friday of a holiday weekend to announce that removal would start within 15 hours. Nearly 430 trees came down in a single day, and she wrote that hundreds more would have followed but for a rain delay. At a hearing two weeks ago she told government lawyers they had "lost credibility," and said she was "furious" and "thoroughly unamused."
In Monday's ruling, Reyes found that the Preservation League is likely to succeed in showing the plans violate the requirement for an environmental review. She also found that the tree removals were part of Trump's renovation plan, rejecting the government's claim that they were separate, unrelated maintenance. She did not find credible the statements of the Interior Department's deputy chief of staff, including his description of the tree work as "cleaning up" the course.
She also pointed to a conflict at the center of the government's case. Its lawyers argued that a challenge was premature because no final decision had been made, yet the president's own public statements about the renovation were hard to square with that position. "Rarely, if ever, has the United States Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting President," she wrote. The case, she added, "started as a case about golf," but now forced the court to reconcile Trump's assertions with the sworn testimony of multiple government employees and the arguments of senior Justice Department attorneys.
Reyes said she had been reluctant to step in and would have preferred not to resolve what she called "Lorax v. Once-ler redux." She intervened, she wrote, only because the government did what it had assured everyone it would not do: cut down hundreds of trees.
The relationship between the judge and the administration has been openly hostile. Trump has called her a "crazed lunatic." Earlier this month government attorneys asked her to recuse herself, citing "open hostility" and "histrionics" they said showed she was no longer impartial. They accused her of questioning government lawyers' intelligence and disregarding separation-of-powers principles. Reyes denied the request and denied bias, listing compliments she had paid government lawyers. "Not sudden onset bias," she wrote, pointing instead to the government's decision to remove over 500 healthy, non-invasive trees.
Trump responded on Truth Social, calling the ruling "unconstitutional" and saying the administration would appeal. He said the course would still close on Nov. 15. He objected to giving advance notice to a judge with no expertise in golf, architecture, landscaping or construction, and called the project "totally 'as of right.'" CBS News has asked the Justice Department and the Interior Department for comment. The next things to watch are an appeal and whether the Nov. 15 closing proceeds under the injunction's notice requirement.
Citações Notáveis
The Court still does not speak for the trees. It speaks only for the rule of law.— U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes
The ruling is unconstitutional, and the administration will appeal.— President Trump, paraphrased from Truth Social post
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