Federal judge extends East Potomac injunction with 10-day notice rule

Order bars additional tree removals during active lawsuit

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes extended a preliminary injunction on Monday that keeps the Trump administration from removing or damaging additional trees at the East Potomac Golf Course and requires 10 days’ notice in writing before any “irreparable modification” to the course’s “forms or features.” The restrictions apply while the lawsuit remains active at the 106-year-old public golf course in Washington.

Trump announced the renovation on social media on Oct. 18, saying he would close the course for 15 months starting Nov. 15 and redevelop the 106-year-old park and course despite a court challenge by the D.C. Preservation League and two golfers. A day later, Trump posted that the work would start immediately.

Reyes, whom Democratic President Joe Biden nominated to the federal bench, had previously ordered the administration to suspend work until at least Oct. 26. Monday’s extension carries the restrictions beyond that date, keeping the prohibition on removing or damaging additional trees and the written-notice requirement in place while the lawsuit proceeds.

The administration asked Reyes to disregard Trump’s statements about the renovation. She expressed astonishment that the government had asked her to “not to believe the sitting President.” “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,” Reyes wrote.

The D.C. Preservation League and two golfers say the work is inflicting irreversible damage. At a hearing, Reyes sharply criticized the government after workers cut down at least 400 trees over a holiday weekend with little notice to the plaintiffs.

Reyes also rejected the administration’s request that she recuse herself from the case. The government questioned her impartiality and accused her of engaging in “egregious” behavior from the bench during an emergency hearing in the case.

Reyes described the expanded legal dispute in her order. “This started as a case about golf. That good walk spoiled. But it has become much more,” she wrote. “It now forces the Court to reconcile assertions by President Donald J. Trump with the sworn testimony of multiple government employees and the argument of senior Department of Justice attorneys.”

The East Potomac renovation is part of Republican President Donald Trump’s broader plans for Washington’s historic landscape, which also include a large White House ballroom, a massive arch and adding the president’s name to the Kennedy Center.

With the extension granted, the administration remains barred from removing or damaging additional trees and must provide 10 days’ written notice before any irreparable modification to the course while the lawsuit is active.