US judge blocks Trump’s plan to renovate historic DC golf course | Trump administration

A federal judge has ordered a temporary suspension of all work on a historic public golf course in Washington, the latest setback to US President Donald Trump’s plan to transform it into a championship course.

In a 30-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes temporarily blocked the federal government from moving forward with a plan that would have closed East Potomac Park on Sunday. Trump said in an Oct. 18 social media post that the closure would last 15 months and transform the park’s golf offerings into “one of the best and most spectacular golf courses in the world.”

Reyes ruled that the Trump administration’s reasons for closing the park were “pretextual” and that the government violated at least two federal laws “to meet an arbitrary deadline.”

“The government is proposing to indefinitely close a historic park, enjoyed daily by Washingtonians of all stripes,” Reyes wrote.

The plaintiffs argue that Trump’s plan would change the accessible character of the golf course and make it unaffordable, which the president denies.

Although Reyes ordered that the park — near the Jefferson Memorial, 2 miles south of the White House — remain open, the Trump administration is not obligated to maintain golf operations at the site, the judge wrote. But the government “cannot use the lack of golf operations as a pretext to exclude the public,” she added.

The decision by Reyes, who was nominated by Joe Biden and whom Trump called “crazy,” is the latest example of the federal judiciary’s resistance to Trump’s radical efforts to reimagine the nation’s capital through major construction projects.

Many of his plans, including a massive ballroom at the White House, putting his own name on the Kennedy Center and building a massive arch, have been challenged in court.

The decision follows a lawsuit filed by the DC Preservation League, a historic preservation group that claims Trump’s plan to redevelop the park violates various federal regulations and statutes.

The group’s lawyers earlier obtained a ruling from Reyes that blocked the National Park Service, part of the Interior Department, “from cutting down trees in the park or making other irreversible changes without notice.”

Democracy Forward, which represents the preservation league and two local residents in the case, said in a statement that it was grateful Reyes stopped “another of the president’s vanity projects.”

The group’s senior legal counsel, Catherine Carroll, said, “The administration’s inexplicable desire to destroy East Potomac Park would have wiped out a valuable park that could never be replaced.” »

The Interior Department, Justice Department and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The trial resulted in several heated confrontations between Reyes and Justice Department lawyers. The judge said last month that the government’s removal of hundreds of trees from the course and its failure to notify the preservation group of the work “cost the government all of its credibility” in the case.

Reyes ordered an ethics investigation to determine whether government lawyers repeatedly misled her about the timing of the park’s closure.

The Justice Department accused Reyes of overstepping his authority and inappropriately belittling government lawyers. He demanded her recusal from the case, a request she denied.

Trump, who owns golf courses around the world, has focused on renovating East Potomac Park as part of his broader ambition to leave an architectural legacy throughout Washington.

The park has three golf courses totaling 36 holes, a miniature golf course and a paved loop popular with cyclists and runners. The proposed overhaul would turn the area into a single 18-hole championship course that Trump said could host world-class events, such as the U.S. Open and Ryder Cup, while remaining open to the public.

With Reuters and Associated Press