A federal judge on Monday extended a ban on cutting down trees at East Potomac Golf Course in Washington, handing down a blistering opinion against President Donald Trump’s overhaul of the historic public course.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes chided federal prosecutors, jabbed at the president’s social media habits and likened the case to Dr. Seuss’ tree-loving Lorax in her 70-page opinion, which she mocked as “Lorax v. Once‑ler redux.”
“The Court earlier stated, ‘I am not the Lorax. I do not speak for the trees,’” Reyes wrote. “The Court still does not speak for the trees. It speaks only for the rule of law.”
Trump posted late Monday that the course would still close Nov. 15 and he would appeal the judge’s “unconstitutional” decision.
Trending
“The judge has absolutely no right to hold up this very important and beautiful Project,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We are asking the D.C. Circuit Court for immediate remedy.”
The plaintiffs, the D.C. Preservation League, argue the government planned to “to destroy” East Potomac Golf Course and replace it with a championship-style course suitable for professional tournaments.
The Justice Department claimed there was no final decision on such a plan and that it was the National Park Service that would make the ultimate call.
“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 him that the secretary’s agency will destroy a historic golf course already on the land. Not to believe him that ‘Restoration work’ will begin ‘IMMEDIATELY!’ Not to believe him that the course ‘will be closed’ for over a year. Not to believe what the President has repeatedly told the American public.”
“And yet,” she added, “here we are.”
Reyes granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Trump administration from removing or damaging additional trees. Officials must also provide 10 business days’ written notice before making other irreversible changes to East Potomac Park while the lawsuit proceeds.
The decision extends protections Reyes first levied after the government cut down more than 400 trees on Oct. 10.
Trump has promoted the project as a potential venue for the U.S. Open and Ryder Cup, promising that the green would remain open to the public. Last week, right before a court hearing on the case, he announced that the existing course would close in November and would not reopen until 2028.
But Interior Department officials told the court that they had no official plans to close the park. The Justice Department said that the lawsuit was premature, despite evidence of public statements, designs and active construction work provided by the D.C. Preservation League.
“If, as DOJ insists, President Trump is wrong, Secretary Burgum can just say so,” she wrote, referring to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. “He has not.”
The fight has become a flash point in Trump’s efforts to overhaul public spaces across D.C.
Rep. Jared Huffman of California, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, revealed last month that the Park Service had awarded a contract for the work without notifying Congress.
Trump called Reyes a “crazed lunatic” last week, after the Justice Department failed to secure her recusal in the case.
In Monday’s opinion, Reyes emphasized that she had repeatedly declined to intervene before the October tree cutting, relying on government assurances that officials would provide meaningful notice before undertaking major changes.
She rejected arguments from the administration that the tree removal was routine maintenance, saying there was “no universe” in which the tree removal was intended as restoration work.
Reyes concluded that the D.C. Preservation League is likely to succeed in its arguments that government officials violated environmental policies in their renovation plan.
Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman, whose organization is co-counsel representing the plaintiffs, called the ruling “a big win that will rightly protect East Potomac Park from further irreparable harm,” according to The Associated Press. She added, in an email to the AP, that the move will stop activities “while the case continues, and we are eager to argue the case in court.”
This story has been updated with a new post by President Trump.
Author
