U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes on Monday ordered a 24-hour halt to tree felling at the historic East Potomac Golf Course while she rules on an emergency order from plaintiffs concerned that Donald Trump’s plans for the course are moving forward despite a pending lawsuit challenging them.
“The removal of trees for routine maintenance is not exempt from this ordinance,” Reyes wrote. “Plaintiffs risk immediate and irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary measures.
“The removal of hundreds of trees from the East Potomac Golf Course is permanent.”
Reyes’ decision came after a National Park Service (NPS) statement three days earlier that it would cut down 500 trees “that do not contribute to the historic landscape” of the course.
The judge’s order sets out questions she wants Kevin Griess, the superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, to answer, including the timing of the removal and who ordered the work.
The felling of 169 trees was scheduled to begin Saturday — and another 90 trees are expected to meet the same fate later, according to the NPS.
The felled trees come as Trump has moved to transform the course into a world-class golf course – part of his grand vision for Washington DC, where he has demolished historic structures, remade or renamed others and deployed the National Guard since the start of his second presidency in early 2025.
Some residents fear that planned changes to the golf course — where Trump visited with a cabinet member, a well-known golf course architect and plans — risk altering the character of a place that has served Washingtonians of all income levels for more than a century. These residents argue that transforming the park into a high-end golf course will certainly result in higher fees and a likely loss of public space.
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