A federal judge in Washington on Monday, October 26, barred the Trump administration from removing or damaging any more trees at East Potomac Golf Links while a lawsuit over the public course proceeds. President Trump said the government would "immediately appeal."
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued the preliminary injunction after weeks of hearings over the felling of hundreds of trees on the century-old public course, NBC News reported. The order also requires 10 business days of written notice before "any irreparable modification to any forms or features of East Potomac Park" while the case is pending.
The plaintiffs and the claim
The suit was brought by the D.C. Preservation League and two local golfers, represented in part by Democracy Forward. They are challenging the administration's planned overhaul of the course. When Reyes first halted the work on October 13, she found they had shown a likelihood of success on their environmental claim and would likely suffer irreparable harm without relief, CBS News reported.
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, called Monday's ruling "a big win that will rightly protect East Potomac park from further irreparable harm."
The judge versus the record
The most striking part of the opinion is about credibility. Justice Department lawyers had told the court there was no renovation plan. Then the president posted on social media that a plan existed. Reyes cited those posts, which she said contradicted sworn testimony from government employees.
"This started as a case about golf. That good walk spoiled. But it has become much more," she wrote, according to NBC. "Rarely, if ever, has the United States Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting President. And yet, here we are."
Reyes had said earlier, "I am not the Lorax. I do not speak for the trees." On Monday she added, "The Court still does not speak for the trees. It speaks only for the rule of law." NBC reported that she had already found the government acted in bad faith when the trees came down.
Timeline, built from court reporting
October 10, 2026: Just before 5 p.m. on a Friday, the Justice Department filed notice of a plan to remove an estimated 529 trees as part of a "tree management and cultural landscape rehabilitation project," per CBS.
October 11: Crews cut trees over the holiday weekend. A Justice Department lawyer told the court 430 were felled and about 99 more were marked for removal.
October 12: Reyes held a hearing of nearly four hours and told the government's lawyer, "You did not do your best. You did your absolute worst."
October 13: Reyes barred further cutting through October 26 and required three business days' notice before permanent changes.
October 18: Trump posted that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and an architect had developed a plan to build a "World Class Championship Golf Course," with work starting November 15.
October 19: Trump posted that work would begin "IMMEDIATELY!" and called the judge "a crazed lunatic," NBC reported.
October 26: Reyes issued the preliminary injunction, extending the protection for the life of the case and lengthening the notice period from three business days to ten.
What comes next
Trump wrote after the ruling that the judge "has absolutely no right to hold up this very important and beautiful Project," and said the course would still close on November 15 for renovations. He argued the project is "as of right" and that the notice requirement is unnecessary and expensive.
An appeal would go to the D.C. Circuit. The injunction does not decide the case. It means only that Reyes found the plaintiffs likely to win and the harm of waiting too great. Any work that counts as an irreparable modification now requires two weeks' warning, which gives the plaintiffs time to come back to court.
Reyes's frustration with the government's lawyers echoes other recent clashes between judges and the Justice Department, including the ruling that Maurene Comey was unlawfully fired and the order that halted taxpayer-funded DHS ads.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
