Judge freezes tree removal at East Potomac Golf Links after Trump posts conflict with agency testimony

East Potomac Golf Links, situated on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., remains under a federal protection order as a legal dispute over the site's future intensifies. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued a longer-term injunction that prevents the Trump administration from removing or damaging additional trees at the course.

The new order mandates that the administration provide written notice 10 business days before making any irreparable changes to the forms or features of East Potomac Park. Reyes stated that this procedural step is necessary while the legal challenge proceeds through the federal courts.

The judge based her ruling on a series of posts by President Donald Trump on Truth Social, which she noted contradicted the sworn testimony of government employees. In her written order, Reyes included screenshots of these posts. One dated October 18 claimed that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and an architect had developed a plan to build a championship golf course, with construction scheduled to begin on November 15. However, lawyers from the Department of Justice had previously told the court that no such renovation plan existed.

In a follow-up post on October 19, the President stated that work would start immediately rather than in November. That post asserted that workers did not require approval for construction and referred to Reyes as a "crazed lunatic." Reyes wrote that the case began as a dispute about golf but evolved into a broader conflict requiring the court to reconcile the President's assertions with the statements of senior Department of Justice attorneys.

"Rarely, if ever, has the United States Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting President," Reyes wrote in her Monday order. "And yet, here we are." During a seven-hour hearing earlier this month, the judge indicated that extending the pause on tree demolition was likely necessary. She had already determined that the government acted in bad faith when it cut down more than 400 trees over the Columbus Day holiday weekend.

Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which represents the plaintiffs, called the decision a major victory. She said in a statement that the ruling would protect East Potomac Park from further irreparable harm. Perryman added that the group is grateful for the court's intervention to stop what she described as greed and lawlessness while the case continues.

Reyes also referenced a line from an earlier proceeding in her current order. "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," she wrote, concluding the administrative requirements of the new injunction.