A federal judge in Washington has ordered one of the Justice Department’s top officials back into her courtroom after President Donald Trump publicly vowed to close a historic public golf course on schedule, despite her order putting the brakes on his redevelopment plans.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes ordered Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. to appear Friday or Monday for a status hearing. According to the Associated Press, she wants the department to clarify “whether any plan exists to close East Potomac Golf Course on or around November 15, 2026.”
The president said one thing. His lawyers said another.
The new hearing came in response to Trump’s posts on Truth Social. After Reyes ruled against the administration, Trump wrote, “We are closing the East Potomac Golf Course Site as scheduled,” and said the judge “does not have the Constitutional Right to ‘ask for or receive notices,’ which are time-consuming, unnecessary, expensive, and unconstitutional.”
That collides with what Justice Department lawyers told the court. According to ABC News and UPI, administration officials had assured Reyes there were no plans to close the course, and DOJ lawyers testified they were unaware of any future plans for new tree removal before the project started. Reyes now wants Woodward to say whether those statements are still accurate.
The AP put it bluntly: Trump’s posts are putting Justice Department lawyers in the uncomfortable position of explaining whether the president of the United States should be believed or not.
“And yet, here we are”
The clash follows a sharply worded 70-page ruling in which Reyes granted a preliminary injunction requested by a preservationist group and a group of local D.C. golfers, according to The Hill. The order bars the government from “removing or damaging” any trees on the course while the lawsuit moves forward, and requires ten business days’ written notice before any “irreparable modification” to East Potomac Park.
“Rarely, if ever, has the United States Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting President,” Reyes wrote. “Not to believe what the President has repeatedly told the American public. And yet, here we are.”
She also revisited a line from an earlier hearing: “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.”
“This started as a case about golf. That good walk spoiled. But it has become much more,” Reyes wrote, according to NBC News. “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.”
Hundreds of trees already gone
Reyes concluded the administration likely violated environmental laws when it tore down hundreds of trees at the course. NBC News reported that she had already found the government acted in “bad faith” when it abruptly cut down more than 400 trees over the Columbus Day holiday weekend.
Trump has enlisted renowned golf architect Tom Fazio to build an 18-hole, championship-length course at East Potomac, according to The Hill, and calls the project a “World Championship Public Facility.” UPI reported that the plan would also remove walking and biking trails in East Potomac Park, and that it’s unclear how affordable the course will be once it’s rebuilt. For years, the course has been known for its affordable fees and for welcoming golfers of every skill level.
What happens next
Trump has called the ruling “unconstitutional,” and the government has told the court it intends to appeal. “We believe this Project is totally ‘as of right,'” he wrote. Earlier this month, according to NBC News, he called Reyes “a crazed lunatic” in a Truth Social post.
For now, the injunction stands, and the next move comes at the hearing Friday or Monday, where Woodward will have to tell the judge whether the course is really closing on November 15.