Trump attacks East Potomac ruling that blocks closure but allows repairs

US District Judge Ana C. Reyes has blocked the Trump administration’s plan to close East Potomac Golf Links and much of the surrounding Washington park, disrupting the president’s proposed 15 November start for a major redevelopment. The temporary order still permits repairs.

In a Truth Social post on 15 November, preserved by the Trump’s Truth archive, Donald Trump called the decision “political” and said the Interior Department had an “absolute right” to rebuild. He described the course as one of the most dangerous in the US, warned of lost golf seasons, jobs and money, and promised an expedited appeal. Reyes was nominated by Joe Biden, but that alone does not establish a political motive for her decision.

The order, issued on 14 November, requires the course and parkland south of Buckeye Drive, including roads and picnic areas, to remain accessible during their existing hours through 28 November, unless the court acts sooner. It allows local restrictions around active sea-wall repairs or imminent safety threats. It does not require the government to operate the course for golf or hire an operator.

Trump’s proposal would replace the 36-hole public facility with an 18-hole championship course. The government told the court on 28 October that closing the park on 15 November was “consistent with the President’s directive”. On the same day, the National Park Service agreed that the operator, National Links Trust, would stop running East Potomac by that date while continuing at two other Washington courses.

The Park Service’s later closure notice did not mention the directive, citing safety concerns, the absence of an operator and insufficient staff to supervise access. Reyes called those reasons for shutting the wider park “pretextual”. In a preliminary ruling, she found that the government had likely violated environmental and administrative law by advancing the project without an environmental assessment of the redevelopment as a whole and moving to close the park without a required public-comment process. Government lawyers say no final redesign decision has been made and that safety and the lack of an operator justify closure independently.

The Park Service said a May assessment recorded 110 defects at the golf course, 69 rated critical or urgent. It also described the sea wall and adjacent walkways as hazardous. Reyes noted that the park superintendent testified in October that none of the May defects had been addressed. The course nevertheless remained open, with more than 30,000 rounds played since May, she said. The Park Service’s figures identify problems at East Potomac but do not compare it with other US courses, so they do not establish Trump’s national ranking.

Reyes’s earlier restrictions on tree-felling and irreversible changes followed the removal of nearly 430 healthy trees in one day in October. The amended order generally requires ten working days’ notice before non-routine course closures or irreversible changes, though immediate safety threats may be addressed with notice within 24 hours. Government lawyers say the tree work followed long-standing Park Service recommendations. The administration appealed the earlier injunction on 27 October; it had also unsuccessfully sought Reyes’s removal from the case, alleging hostility.

Trump did not say how many jobs or golf seasons he expected to be lost, or calculate the cost of the delay. Reyes said the government had identified no imminent sea-wall construction plan that continued public access would hinder. Before the ruling, a regional golf manager told Axios that East Potomac staff were to be transferred to the city’s two other public courses; the eventual effect on jobs remains unclear.