WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday questioned the Trump administration’s claims about its efforts to redevelop a historic site. Washington Golf Coursedisputing his assertion that a recent tree cutting did not indicate that work was progressing on the project, which is temporarily blocked by a court order.
“There is no universe in which all of this happened by chance at the same time,” U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said during a hearing on the fate of a project that has emerged as the latest legal flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s campaign to leave his personal mark on the nation’s capital. The hearing, which lasted more than five hours, ended without Reyes taking action.
Reyes last week ordered a halt to plans to redevelop the golf course until at least Oct. 26, after scold the government for beginning a large-scale tree felling on the course over a holiday weekend while giving little notice to the court or plaintiffs who were trying to stop the transformation.
Then, on Sunday, Trump announced his plans on social media. close the golf course for 15 months, starting Nov. 15, and redevelop the 106-year-old park and course despite a legal challenge from the DC Preservation League and two golfers. In a message released Monday, Trump said work would begin immediately.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs challenging the golf course renovations asked Reyes to extend his order that temporarily suspended the work. They say the work is causing irreversible damage and that the redevelopment would violate the Congressional law that created the park where the course is located.
Tensions escalate between judge and Trump administration
Hearings at the century-old golf course have become increasingly tense, and on the eve of Monday’s hearing, Reyes rejected the administration’s request that he recuse himself from the case. The government questioned her impartiality and accused her of “egregious” behavior as a judge during last week’s emergency hearing.
Trump, a Republican, called Reyes “crazy crazy” in his social media post Monday.
“The United States Department of the Interior wants to turn a terrible, very dangerous golf course into a great, safe, prestigious golf course. They have the absolute right to do it. It’s that simple!” Trump wrote.
Reyes, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, said the government had not failed “by any objective measure” to demonstrate the need for her recusal from the case.
“It is easy to use selective citations as a weapon to bring a baseless recusal motion. But it is much more difficult to meet demanding legal standards with a complete record,” she wrote.
She ended the hearing Monday saying she was receiving threats over the case.
“A federal judge is receiving death threats over a golf course,” she said. “I really don’t think that’s what the founders envisioned.”
Trump committed transforming the course into a world-class golf venue – part of its big vision for Washington, DCwhere he demolished historic structures, remade or renamed others, and deployed the national guard for over a year.
Although it is open to Washingtonians of all income levels, opponents of Trump’s plans for the golf course have argued that it would change the character of the space and make it less affordable for people.
The DC Preservation League and other opponents have expressed concerns about the Trump administration’s compliance with federal laws, including the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. That fear has been compounded by Trump’s social media posts indicating that plans are further along, without appropriate action taken, than initially thought.
Judge pressures officials over conflicting accounts
Monday’s hearing began with a tense confrontation between Reyes and Justice Department official Stanley Woodward, when the judge asked whether other government lawyers in the room “as officers of the court” were willing to certify that whatever was filed Sunday was truthful and legally valid under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
In that filing, Woodward said 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 states.
Trump’s social media outbursts have created further tensions for Justice Department lawyers.
“I have on one side the President of the United States telling the public there is a final plan,” with the approval of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, “and then you are telling me there is no final plan.”
Reyes nevertheless told the plaintiffs, who are seeking additional guarantees, that a blanket work stoppage order is unlikely.
The administration has maintained that the tree felling was motivated by a 2019 National Park Service report and not by Trump’s plans for the golf course, the officials reiterated Monday.
Reyes expressed doubts about this claim.
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Associated Press writer Michael Kunzelman contributed.
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