President Trump has sharply criticized a federal judge who halted his proposed overhaul of a Washington, DC, golf course, calling the venue “disgusting” and vowing to hold her “fully responsible” for any liabilities arising at the site.
Trump’s comments followed a preliminary injunction issued by US District Judge Ana Reyes, which temporarily blocked renovation work at East Potomac Golf Course.
He said his administration would hold Reyes “fully responsible” if “anybody is hurt, or killed” at the course, which he characterized as “very dangerous, dilapidated, and unsightly.”
“The driving range should provide golfers with stunning views of the Washington Monument, not of a barren, debris-ridden wasteland,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The driving range should not be a threat to life and limb.”
Trump also claimed that a White House staffer was struck “violently” in the chest by a golf ball, appearing to link the incident to “gaping holes” in the range’s protective netting.
His remarks come after months of legal disputes over the future of East Potomac Golf Links. The site includes three courses, among them an 18-hole course, as well as running and biking trails popular with local residents.
The proposed redevelopment has remained tied up in court since several preservation groups filed a lawsuit challenging the plan.
Trump has pledged to transform the site into a “championship-caliber” course, a proposal that led Reyes to issue a temporary court order earlier this year.
Workers feed branches from hundreds of removed trees into a wood chipper at East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, DC
Trump gestures during a rally in Tennessee. He has targeted East Potomac Golf Course for renovation as part of a broader “beautification” effort in the nation’s capital, triggering a series of court battles
President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum tour East Potomac Park Golf Course in June 2026
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The administration’s actions in the months that followed have drawn increasingly strong criticism from Reyes, who has expressed both frustration and disbelief in court.
Most recently, she issued a detailed preliminary order Monday outlining the steps the administration is prohibited from taking. The order came after the National Park Service abruptly removed about 430 trees from the site on the morning of October 9.
Reyes said the government had given the plaintiffs less than 24 hours’ notice before carrying out the work, a decision that prompted anger and astonishment during the proceedings.
“I am at a total loss to understand what has happened here,” Reyes said. She added that she had explicitly directed the Justice Department to notify the court if it intended to undertake “any imminent, significant construction or destructive activities of an irretrievable character” at East Potomac Golf Course.
“What universe did anyone in your office think that was acceptable?” Reyes asked the Trump administration at another point in the hearing, making clear her frustration.
The new preliminary injunction temporarily prohibits the Trump administration from removing or damaging any more trees at East Potomac Golf Course.
It also requires the administration to give at least 10 days’ written notice before altering the “form or features” of the course. The order covers changes to “the park’s landforms, vegetation, course design, hydrology, pathways, and structures.”
“The Court earlier stated, ‘I am not the Lorax. I do not speak for the trees,’” Reyes wrote Monday, referring to comments she made at a hearing earlier this year.
“The Court still does not speak for the trees,” she added. “It speaks only for the rule of law.”
Separately, Reyes ordered Stanley Woodward, the Justice Department’s associate attorney general, to appear in court Friday for a status hearing.
