The Trump administration cannot close East Potomac Park to the public just yet, a federal judge in Washington ruled Saturday, dealing a blow to the president’s efforts to renovate his golf course.
The administration previously announced plans to close what is effectively the entire East Potomac and Hains Point area starting Sunday. But U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes wrote that while the litigation moves forward, the course, as well as surrounding bike and walking paths, must remain open to the public “except for routine temporary closures consistent with the course’s historical operational practices, and unless necessary to address explicit and imminent threats to public safety.”
Reyes wrote that closing the park would “irreparably harm” the plaintiffs – the Preservation League of Washington, D.C. – who regularly use the park.
“It runs counter to the public interest in using national parks. And the government has not plausibly identified any harm it would suffer from a temporary restraining order that preserves the status quo pending further proceedings,” Reyes wrote.
Reyes’ order does not require the administration to continue operating the golf course, including items such as the concession stand or pro shop, but does state that the administration “may not use the lack of golf operations as a reason to exclude the public from the course.”
The administration had argued that the park needed to close for repairs, including a seawall that needed to be repaired and which it said posed an “imminent threat to public safety.” The judge expressed skepticism of that argument, noting how quickly the National Park Service cut down 400 trees in the area — an action that Reyes called at the time “bad faith.”
“If public safety were at risk, the NPS would have taken action – any action – to address the safety concerns of which it was aware. Recall that in just ten days, the NPS was able to plan, marshal resources and personnel, and remove over 400 healthy trees. So the NPS was not without capacity or resources. And would likely not have prioritized the removal of healthy trees over public safety,” wrote Reyes.
President Donald Trump called the park a “garbage island” just hours before the ruling, while criticizing Reyes.
“Trash Island is currently the worst golf course in the world, but the Interior Department is going to make it the best golf course in the world,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The decision came after a contentious day of hearing Friday in which a government lawyer, Adam Gustafson, said the decision to close the park on Sunday was “separate” from President Donald Trump’s social media statement that the East Potomac Golf Course would close on Sunday for extensive renovations.
The president’s Oct. 18 announcement on Truth Social that the park’s three links golf courses would be transformed into a single 18-hole championship-style course is “not the same action” as the Interior Department’s decision to close much of the park that includes the golf course, Gustafson said.
The president has adopted several pet projects during his second term in an effort to change Washington monuments. He has faced legal battles over some of them, including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and a triumphal arch. Work on both was blocked by judges.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court allowed Trump to build a ballroom on the White House grounds.
A Justice Department spokesperson, responding to Reyes’ ruling, said the judge’s order would not stop golf course development.
“The Court recognized that the National Park Service can limit access to its facilities where the public is at risk. Nothing in the Court’s order prevents planning for the development of a world-class golf course. The Department of Justice will always vehemently defend the Trump Administration’s agenda in court,” the spokesperson said.
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