Judge grills Trump administration over plans to overhaul Washington golf
course
[October 20, 2026]
By GARY FIELDS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday questioned the Trump
administration’s claims surrounding its efforts to redevelop a historic
Washington golf course, challenging its contention that a recent
tree-cutting spree did not indicate work was moving forward on the
project, which is temporarily blocked by a court order.
“There is no universe in which all of this coincidentally happened all
at the same time,” U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said during a hearing
over the fate of a project that has emerged as the latest legal
flashpoint in President Donald Trump's campaign to leave his personal
imprint on the nation's capital. The hearing, which continued more than
five hours, ended with Reyes taking no action.
Reyes last week ordered a halt to the golf course's redevelopment plans
until at least Oct. 26 after scolding the government for starting a
large-scale tree removal at the course over a holiday weekend while
providing little notice to the court or the plaintiffs trying to stop
the makeover.
Then, on Sunday, Trump announced plans on social media to close the golf
course for 15 months, starting on Nov. 15, and redevelop the
106-year-old park and course despite a court challenge by the D.C.
Preservation League and two golfers. In a post on Monday, Trump said the
work would start immediately.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys challenging the golf course renovation work have
asked Reyes to extend her order that temporarily paused the work. They
say the work is inflicting irreversible damage and that the
redevelopment would violate the congressional act that created the park
where the course is located.
Tensions escalate between judge and Trump administration
The hearings on the century-old golf course have grown increasingly
tense and on the eve of Monday’s hearing, Reyes rejected the
administration’s request for her to recuse herself from the case. The
government questioned her impartiality and accused her of engaging in
“egregious” behavior from the bench during last week’s emergency hearing
for the case.
Trump, a Republican, referred to Reyes as a “crazed lunatic” in his
social media post on Monday.
"The United States Department of Interior wants to take a terrible and
very unsafe golf course, and make it into a great, safe, and prestigious
golf course. They have an absolute right to do so. It’s as simple as
that!” Trump wrote.
Reyes, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, said the
government has failed “by any objective measure” to demonstrate the need
for her recusal from the case.
"It is easy to weaponize selective quotations to bring a baseless
recusal motion. But it is much harder to meet the demanding legal
standard against a full record,” she wrote.
She ended the hearing Monday by saying she was receiving threats over
the case.
“A federal judge is getting death threats over a golf course,” she said.
“I really don’t think that’s what the founders envisioned.”
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The trunks of large trees are wrapped in caution tape at the East
Potomac Golf Links, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Trump has pledged to turn the course into a world-class golf venue —
part of his grand vision for Washington, D.C., where he has torn
down storied structures, remade or renamed others and deployed the
National Guard for more than a year.
While it has been open to Washingtonians of all income levels,
opponents of Trump’s plans for the golf course have argued it will
alter the character of the space and make it less affordable to
people.
The DC Preservation League and other opponents have voiced concerns
over whether the Trump administration is complying with federal
laws, including the National Historic Preservation Act and the
National Environmental Policy Act. That fear was compounded by
Trump's social media postings indicating plans are further along,
without the proper steps being taken, than originally thought.
Judge presses officials over conflicting accounts
Monday’s hearing started with a tense confrontation between Reyes
and Justice Department official Stanley Woodward, when the judge
asked if other any government attorneys in the room “as officers of
the court” were willing to certify that everything within a Sunday
filing was truthful and legally sound under federal rules of civil
procedures.
In that filing Woodward argued that there were no final plans for
the park.
“First, the plan is not final because the Park Service has not
completed its review and the details of the proposal are subject to
change during the review process,” the filing said.
Trump's social media outbursts created other tension for Justice
Department lawyers.
“I have on the one hand the president of the United States saying to
the public there is a final plan,” one with sign off from Interior
Secretary Doug Burgum “and then I have you telling me there is no
final plan.”
Still, Reyes told the plaintiffs, who are seeking additional
safeguards, that an all encompassing work stoppage order is
unlikely.
The administration has maintained that the tree cutting was driven
by a 2019 National Park Service report and not Trump's designs for
the golf course, a line officials repeated on Monday.
Reyes expressed doubts over the claim.
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Associated Press writer Michael Kunzelman contributed.
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