Roughly 430 trees had already come down by the time a federal judge intervened. Judge Ana C. Reyes of the District of Columbia has now ordered the Trump administration to stop cutting more at East Potomac Golf Course, a 106-year-old public course in southwest Washington. She invoked Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax to make her point.
Reyes issued a temporary restraining order after the Department of the Interior told the National Park Service to clear hundreds of trees under renovation plans. A legal filing says about 430 trees came down in early October. At a hearing Monday, Reyes put the number above 500 and said removing them without adequate notice had “cost the government all of its credibility” in the case. She said she was at a “total loss” over the government’s actions.
A Ruling Built on Missing Answers
The judge’s written order reads like a list of unanswered questions. “The reason? Disputed. The budget? Unclear. The environmental impact? Unstudied. The urgency? None. Next steps: bulldoze hundreds more,” Reyes wrote.
She warned that waiting would make the damage permanent. “If no injunctive relief is awarded, ‘the ground, landscape and vistas will be irrevocably altered’ because ‘destroyed trees cannot be replaced,’” the filing states. A footnote adds: “Just ask the Lorax.”
Reyes concluded that officials acted quickly for political, rather than administrative, reasons. “The Court concludes, on this limited record, that government officials raced to undertake the TMP because President Trump demands haste on his redesign, and not because of some newfound zeal to implement a small part of a seven-year-old CLR,” the filing states. She also said she had repeatedly told the government to notify parties before starting major demolition work.
The Administration’s Case
The administration describes the project as long-delayed maintenance. A spokesperson for the Interior Department said Monday, “The National Park Service is finally implementing a 7-year-old plan to address tree overgrowth at East Potomac Golf Course.” The spokesperson said the work “will include selective tree and vegetation work to restore the course,” guided by the 2019 Cultural Landscape Report, and help restore its “historic character and reopen views toward landmarks.” The White House referred Newsweek to the Interior Department.
President Donald Trump has spoken more directly about his aims. In a June post on Truth Social, he called the course “virtually unplayable” and said it would be built to the “Highest Standards of Golf,” but “in such a way that the General Public will love it.” The government says a 2019 National Parks Service report found that a championship-style venue would require removing several hundred trees.
That’s the gap the court seized on. A seven-year-old report recommended changes, but it didn’t explain why hundreds of trees had to come down this month, without notice, before anyone studied the environmental effects.
A Course With a Civil Rights Past
The site matters well beyond its fairways. East Potomac ranks among the country’s most historically significant courses because of its role in the fight for Civil Rights. Black golfers challenged segregation there 85 years ago, in 1941. Then-Interior Secretary Harold Ickes ordered the course open to all players.
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said Monday, “This is a tactic we're seen before from the Trump-Vance administration—act quickly to irrevocably alter a cherished national landmark, just to advance another one of President Donald Trump's pet vanity projects.” Democracy Forward says it challenges “abuses of power that undermine good government.”
One Project Among Many
East Potomac isn’t the only Washington landmark facing legal pushback. During his second term, Trump has pursued a series of renovation projects in the capital, many tied to semiquincentennial celebrations over the summer. Workers paved over the Rose Garden. A ballroom is going up in the East Wing, drawing legal challenges and criticism. The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool renovation ran into algal blooms and peeling material, and the nonprofit Cultural Landscape Foundation sued, arguing the administration failed to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act. A proposed triumphal arch in front of Arlington National Cemetery faces its own challenges, with the Arlington County Board seeking to halt the “feverish pace” of construction.
The restraining order remains in effect until Monday, October 26, 12 days from today.
Why This Matters: Trees can’t be put back once they’re cut, which is why courts treat their removal as irreversible harm. Here, a judge found that officials removed hundreds of trees at a public landmark without notice, a clear budget, or an environmental study. East Potomac belongs to the public and holds a place in the history of desegregation. When major changes to shared spaces move faster than the review processes meant to protect them, courts become the last check. The pattern across several Washington projects, each now facing legal scrutiny, raises a broader question: are federal agencies following the preservation and notice requirements meant to keep public decisions accountable? The order expires October 26. What happens next will show whether the government can justify the work on the record.