NPR reports that federal Judge Ana C. Reyes sharply criticized administration lawyers in a tense Monday hearing over President Trump’s push to overhaul Washington’s historic East Potomac Golf Links. The hearing ended without a decision, according to NPR.
Why the judge is pressing for answers
NPR says Reyes had recently ordered the government to give advance notice before any substantial work, including removing more than 10 trees. Late on Friday, Oct. 9, officials told the court they planned to remove “up to 529 trees” in phases. NPR reports bulldozers began taking down hundreds of trees the next day.
“I do not know how I could have made it any plainer that I did not want what was to happen, to happen,” NPR quotes Reyes as saying during an emergency hearing last week, where she ordered a 24-hour halt. On Monday, she questioned conflicting accounts after Trump posted detailed renovation plans on Sunday: “Do I believe the president of the United States or do I believe you?”
Conflicting messages: Trump posts vs. DOJ filing
NPR reports that Trump has said he wants to turn the site’s three courses into a single “championship-style golf course.” Ahead of Monday’s hearing, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Judge Reyes was a “crazed lunatic” and claimed work did not need court approval, adding: “Work is scheduled to begin IMMEDIATELY!”
But DOJ lawyers told the court the day before that “the plan is not final because the Park Service has not completed its review,” according to NPR. The White House filed a motion to remove Reyes from the case, alleging bias; NPR says the judge declined to step aside.
What’s at stake at East Potomac
NPR describes East Potomac as a century-old public course—one of the first to be desegregated—on a peninsula between the Potomac River and the Washington Channel. Reyes said in court that the park is protected as a historic landmark and holds deep meaning for the District’s residents, per NPR’s account. NPR also reports that a D.C. preservation group and two individuals sued in February, arguing renovations would raise tee-time costs at a course intended to be “open to all people.”
According to NPR, the White House says it is following a 2019 preservation plan. Plaintiffs counter that Trump’s stated redevelopment ambitions go beyond that plan, which recommends removing invasive plants but not healthy, native trees.
What happened before Monday’s hearing
NPR reports that days before Monday’s session, Reyes temporarily blocked the government from moving forward with the project. After the late-Friday notice of up to 529 tree removals, she said she was “beyond disappointed” by the ensuing tree cutting and paused work for 24 hours during an emergency hearing last week.
Broader context, per NPR
NPR characterizes the golf fight as one of several episodes in which the president has sought to exert power in Washington despite court constraints. NPR also reports he has threatened to tear down the Kennedy Center and is seeking to build a 250-foot arch near the National Mall.
Source: All events, quotations, and characterizations above are drawn from NPR’s reporting published Oct. 19, 2026.
