A federal judge has frozen further tree-cutting at a Washington, DC, public course that Donald Trump wants to remodel into a golf course. This comes after the administration cleared at least 430 trees in a single weekend. Judge Ana Reyes said she was “furious” and ordered senior officials to appear in court next week to explain themselves.
Judge ‘furious’ after Donald Trump’s golf course renovation results in trees removal
The federal judge, Judge Ana Reyes, issued a temporary order on Monday blocking any more cutting at East Potomac Golf Course until Tuesday afternoon. She acted after an emergency hearing in the lawsuit over the president’s plans for the site. In her view, only a court order would stop crews from felling hundreds more trees. The judge also condemned the government’s lawyers. Interior officials filed notice of the work on Friday evening, and crews began cutting the next morning.
Reyes told Justice Department attorneys that this timeline had cost them “credibility.” One lawyer insisted the team had done its “best” to alert the court and the plaintiffs. Reyes answered: “No, you did your absolute worst.”
The three-hour virtual hearing featured testimony from two National Park Service officials. Kevin Griess, who oversees the National Mall and Memorial Parks, said his office picked the trees last week. He said workers who had been busy with America 250 events over the summer were now free to take on the job. Griess added that he knew of Donald Trump’s golf plans only through social media.
Frank Lands, the service’s deputy director of operations, traced the order to an October 5 meeting with Greg Wischer, a political appointee and the Interior Department’s deputy chief of staff. Lands said he was told to put a 2019 landscape report into action. That report aims to return the course to its original look. Neither man could tell Reyes what the work would cost taxpayers.
The judge pointed out that some of these same officials had told the court, in sworn declarations, that no firm plans existed for the overhaul. She called that “double speak” and said leaving out the tree removal was “preposterous.” Further, she said the issue was “whether I have been lied to in declarations about the plans.” Now, there will be another hearing next week with a senior Interior Department appointee and the National Park Service’s acting head ready to testify.
