Judge blocks DC golf course plan, but Trump vows to continue renovation

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Oct 27, 2026

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A federal judge has indefinitely blocked President Donald Trump’s plan to transform a historic Washington, D.C. public golf course, but he insists the massive renovation will go ahead regardless.

District Judge Ana Reyes issued a preliminary injunction that bars the government from removing or damaging any additional trees on the East Potomac Golf Course and orders the Trump administration to give 10 days’ notice before making any “irreparable modification” to any “forms or features” of the course.

Trump railed against the ruling and insisted the wide-ranging renovation plan would go ahead as scheduled. He vowed to “immediately appeal” the decision.

“The judge has absolutely no right to hold up this very important and beautiful Project,” he wrote on his social media site.

In a sharply worded 70-page ruling, Reyes suggested she was forced to block additional work because of Trump’s bluntly worded claims that he planned to continue “IMMEDIATELY” with the renovation project even though opponents including golfers and a preservation group have filed suit to permanently block it.

The judge scoffed at the sworn claims of several government officials, including Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, that no final decision had been made on the plan, statements that she said directly contradict Trump.

“This started as a case about golf. … But it has become much more,” Reyes wrote. “It now forces the Court to reconcile assertions by President Donald J. Trump with the sworn testimony of multiple government employees and the argument of senior Department of Justice attorneys.”

“The Court does not end the round: it simply marks the ball until the parties can fully and fairly litigate this case,” added Reyes, who was nominated to the bench by former President Joe Biden.

At a previous hearing, the judge excoriated Trump officials for cutting down at least 400 trees at the course over the Columbus Day holiday weekend, flouting her earlier order to suspend work on the project until at least Oct. 26.

The golf renovation project is part of Trump’s aggressive campaign to leave his personal imprint on the nation’s capital. Those plans include construction of a huge ballroom at the White House, building a massive arch in Arlington, Virginia, and the troubled repainting of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall.

Reyes noted that she had denied previous requests for a sweeping injunction because it was unclear if the government planned to go ahead with the plan regardless of the lawsuit.

Trump’s repeated statements leave little room for dispute that it plans to do just that.

“It has the go-ahead,” he told reporters after returning from a midterms campaign speech in Mississippi. “The judge feels that she would like to approve it as it goes along. And I didn’t know she was an architectural critic of golf courses.”

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