{"id":933429,"date":"2026-10-19T06:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/933429\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T06:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:02:09","slug":"trump-plans-to-begin-dc-golf-course-renovation-in-defiance-of-judges-order-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/933429\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump plans to begin DC golf course renovation in defiance of judge\u2019s order | Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday that \u201crestoration work will begin\u201d on 15 November to a historic public golf course in Washington DC<\/a> despite a federal judge\u2019s court order to pause his plans over environmental and historic preservation concerns.<\/p>\n

US district judge Ana Reyes had ruled earlier this year that the federal government must give notice before any substantive construction work on the East Potomac golf course could proceed, and last week issued an order halting the removal of trees at the site, which she called \u201cinexcusable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Trump said Sunday in a post on Truth Social<\/a> that work on the golf course would begin on 15 November and that \u2060it would reopen in about 15 months. He wrote that the facility would be transformed into \u201cone of the Best and Most Spectacular Golf Courses anywhere in the World\u201d. Trump did not acknowledge the legal fight in his post, which included an artist\u2019s rendering for the course redesign.<\/p>\n

The judge in the case took notice of Trump\u2019s online message and ordered the government to notify her by 8pm ET on Sunday whether its position had changed from a court filing Friday that said \u201cat most\u201d Trump has given \u201cpreliminary thought\u201d to the rebuilding plan and \u201cthere is no final agency action\u201d.<\/p>\n

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump\u2019s announcement on Sunday would conflict with Reyes\u2019s \u200cdirectives.<\/p>\n

The renovation is among a number of projects Trump was pursuing to reshape \u200cthe White House and \u200cother Washington landmarks. Many of his projects, including plans for a huge ballroom at the White House<\/a>, the installation of his own name <\/a>on the Kennedy Center<\/a> and construction of a massive arch<\/a>, have been challenged in courts.<\/p>\n

The 106-year-old park and golf course, alone, has been the subject of many emergency hearings as the president has sought to renovate it. While it has been open to Washingtonians of all income levels, opponents of Trump\u2019s plans to turn it into a high-end course have argued it will alter the character of the space and make it less affordable to people.<\/p>\n

Democracy Forward, which is representing the plaintiffs challenging his renovation plans for the golf course, responded to Trump by saying that the course is part of a national park and recreation facility that is meant for everyone to enjoy. \u201cOur litigation is intended to protect this community jewel for the people and communities it serves and we will continue to work with our plaintiffs to defend it from unlawful and harmful intrusion,\u201d Skye Perryman, the president and CEO of the group, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The DC Preservation League brought a lawsuit in February to halt the administration\u2019s takeover of the golf course, alleging that it would violate environmental laws and \u201cirreparably destroy a priceless piece of American history\u201d.<\/p>\n

In an 9 October court filing, the Trump administration<\/a> had asked Reyes to dismiss the litigation, saying it was premature because the \u201cproposed project remains at an early and conceptual stage\u201d.<\/p>\n

The following day, however, \u2060the government removed about 500 trees from the site, which it said would improve safety at the park and restore its original design, and was part of a 2019 plan that predates Trump\u2019s ambitions \u200cfor the course. Reyes ordered a halt to the removals.<\/p>\n

Reyes has also ordered key members of the Republican administration to testify on the recent tree-cutting and whether those actions are tied to the president\u2019s plans for the historical public links.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the government filed a motion to disqualify Reyes and move the case to another district judge, saying her actions had shown \u201cdeep-seated and unequivocal antipathy\u201d and \u201copen hostility\u201d toward the Trump administration, according to court records. The plaintiffs in the case oppose the motion.<\/p>\n

Reyes was appointed to the federal bench by Joe Biden in 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday that \u201crestoration work will begin\u201d on 15 November to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":933430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-933429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=933429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/933430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=933429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=933429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=933429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}