On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes ordered the Trump administration to stop cutting trees at East Potomac Golf Links through Monday, Oct. 26. The public course sits on the Potomac River in Washington. Reyes said the people suing will likely win their main argument, that the government skipped a required environmental review. Just before 5 p.m. last Friday, the government told the court that the National Park Service planned to remove about 529 trees over the long holiday weekend. Crews cut down 430 on Saturday, and rain kept them off on Sunday. President Donald Trump wants the roughly 100-year-old course rebuilt as a championship venue. The D.C. Preservation League and two local golfers are suing to stop him. Reyes has called senior Park Service and Interior officials to a hearing next Monday, Oct. 19.

The Trees Were Overdue for Cutting (Doug Burgum, Donald Trump, Marissa Piropato)

The administration says the work follows a 2019 plan to restore a run-down course, and that the course will stay public.

Officials say this was overdue park upkeep. "The National Park Service is finally implementing a 7-year-old plan to address tree overgrowth at East Potomac Golf Course," an Interior Department spokesperson said. "This carefully planned work is part of our required stewardship of the park." In court filings, government lawyers called the cutting "maintenance activities" that have nothing to do with Trump's redesign. They say the work follows a 2019 report on bringing the course back toward its original design. Interior also says it reopens views of nearby landmarks.

The president says the course fell apart from years of bad upkeep. Trump toured it in June with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and golf architect Tom Fazio. Afterward he called East Potomac "dilapidated, worn out," as well as dangerous and outdated, and blamed years of poor maintenance. He has promised a world-class course that stays open to the public. Burgum says locals will get "championship-quality golf at affordable, highly discounted" rates.

The government's lawyer says it gave what notice it could. "Your Honor, we did our best in providing notice," Marissa Piropato, a deputy chief at the Justice Department, told Reyes on Monday.

The Government Dodged the Law and the Court (Norman Eisen, David Super)

The preservationists who sued say the cutting is the first step of Trump's rebuild, and that the holiday timing was meant to get ahead of the judge.

The people suing say "maintenance" is a cover story. They told the court the crews cut healthy, mature oaks and maples. They argue Trump's plan would "require" mass tree clearing anyway. They wrote that even if the government deserves the benefit of the doubt, "they are not entitled to a suspension of disbelief." Norman Eisen, a lawyer for the D.C. Preservation League, said the case is about "stopping the assault on the rule of law and the Constitution."

Paperwork for the rebuild has already started. In September the Park Service quietly awarded a roughly $390,000 contract for environmental and historic-preservation compliance work, WTOP reported. It has also posted a projected construction contract worth up to $49 million, with bidding expected to open in January 2027.

The judge says the government broke her trust. Earlier this year, Reyes turned down a restraining order because administration lawyers promised to warn her before any major work. On Monday she told Piropato, "You did not do your best. You did your absolute worst." "What has happened has cost the government all of its credibility," Reyes said. Park Service officials took the stand Monday to explain who approved the Saturday cutting.

A law professor says the timing was deliberate. David Super teaches law at Georgetown University. He said the administration was "trying to pull a fast one" by starting the cutting before the court could act.

Fix It if You Want, but Keep It Cheap and Public (Miguel Penick, Will Smith, Elizabeth Kiker)

Golfers and park regulars mostly want ordinary people to still be able to play there.

Some regulars would welcome a better course. "Out of any President to fix a golf course, this is probably the right one," a golfer who gave only the name Stephan told WJLA on Tuesday. Miguel Penick, a golfer who learned the game at East Potomac, wants something else guaranteed. "I just want to make sure this course is cheap and accessible to everybody at every level of play," Penick said.

Golfers worry about the price. Right now, golfers pay under $50 for 18 holes at peak times. Under Burgum's plan, locals would pay under $100. In August, the golf site The Fried Egg reported that more than 700 people had played the course on a single Saturday. The National Links Trust, the nonprofit that runs the city's public courses, had planned its own restoration with "modest green fees." When the administration moved to push it out last year, co-founder Will Smith said, "We're gutted, just gutted." It's still unclear who will run the course after the rebuild, or whether the low prices will last.

Cyclists and walkers use the park too. Elizabeth Kiker is executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. In August, after an earlier round of tree removal, she warned it could be "the beginning of them tearing this entire space out and building it to be something that is not for the public."

Where This Lands

The administration says it's following a 2019 plan to fix a run-down course. The preservationists say the holiday cutting was the first step of Trump's rebuild, timed to get ahead of the court. Golfers and park users mostly want a course they can still afford. No more trees can come down through Oct. 26. On Monday, Oct. 19, senior Park Service and Interior officials are due back in Reyes's courtroom.

Sources