Judge Ana Reyes pauses Trump's 15-month East Potomac golf course closure

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Saturday from closing Washington’s East Potomac Park and its historic public golf course, one day before the planned shutdown.

The order pauses President Donald Trump’s effort to turn East Potomac Golf Links into a championship venue, with the course previously scheduled to shut Sunday for 15 months. The administration cannot close the park or course but need not actively manage them, and the order runs through Nov. 28.

Reyes called the government’s reasons pretextual, writing that "the Government reverse-engineers additional justifications for the Park's closure… All while it continues to assert that it will close the Park to follow the President's directive."

It was unclear whether the administration would appeal or what would happen once the order expires.

Administration lawyers said the entire park needed to shut because the sea wall was deteriorating and the course posed safety risks. They also said nonprofit operator National Links Trust would cease running the course as of Nov. 15.

At Friday’s hearing, Reyes said safety had not entered the closure discussions for months and that ending the lease appeared to be a premise for shutting the park rather than a cause. Calling the absence of an operator self-inflicted, she said, "You're the one who set the house on fire."

Plaintiffs’ lawyer Catherine Carroll argued at the hearing that National Links Trust’s departure was no coincidence, given that Trump had directed the park to close the same day.

Reyes pointed to Marine Corps Marathon runners who went through the park in October. "If this is such an emergent situation… why wasn't [East Potomac] closed immediately?" she asked.

Justice Department lawyer Adam Gustafson argued that a closure would not bring immediate renovation because the National Park Service still had to conduct reviews for environmental and historic preservation.

Reyes said she plans to appoint former U.S. attorney for D.C. Jessie Liu to examine whether Interior Department and National Park Service officials and Justice Department attorneys breached ethics rules or misled the court. Gustafson asked her to reconsider.

"It's quite a cloud on the people it affects," Gustafson said.

"To be frank with you I don’t want to do this," Reyes said. "I think there is enough smoke that someone needs to consider whether there’s been fire."

The Justice Department opposes the appointment and sought Reyes’s removal, citing what it called her "egregious behavior." Reyes has not recused herself. Former President Joe Biden, a Democrat, nominated her.

Before the order, Trump wrote on social media Saturday that Reyes "doesn’t want us to quickly and inexpensively fix up the Course which is, also, very dangerous." He said Washington-area residents would receive a 50% discount at the rebuilt course.

Trump repeatedly called the course "Trash Island" in a Truth Social post and said the overhaul would attract tournaments including the U.S. Open and Ryder Cup, The Independent reported.

The DC Preservation League and two local golfers brought the lawsuit in February. They say the redesign would alter the accessible course’s character and make it unaffordable, which Trump denies.

"We are grateful that once again, a court has intervened to prevent irreparable harm caused by the Trump-Vance administration's pursuit of another one of the president's vanity projects," Carroll, of Democracy Forward, said after the ruling.

Trump announced in October that the course would shut Nov. 15 for a Tom Fazio design. The course opened in the 1920s and is about 2 miles from the White House. Fazio’s layout would run more than 8,000 yards from the back tees, The Hill reported.

The National Capital Planning Commission will consider the proposal at its Dec. 3 meeting.