Federal judge blocks Trump's renovations of DC golf course hours before its closure

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Saturday to delay closing a D.C.-area golf course amid President Donald Trump's push to have the course renovated.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued the two-week delay before the East Potomac Golf Links was due to close Sunday for 15 months.

The course sits on federally owned land at East Potomac Park and has been part of Washington's public golf scene for more than a century. Trump announced in May the course would undergo a "historic renovation" that would prepare it to host major professional golf events.

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The plaintiffs argue that Trump's plan would change the character of the accessible golf course and make it unaffordable, something the president denies.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump has dubbed the course "Trash Island," doing so as recently on Saturday in a Truth Social post in which he said it is the "worst" course in the world.

Trump said the conditions of the course are "very dangerous," adding pictures of what appears to be the course in poor shape.

"The Fairways are far too close together. When you walk down the corridors of Trash Island, you don’t hear the sound of the running Potomac, all you hear is the sound of people screaming, 'FORE!'," Trump wrote.

Trump has posted about the course in the past. Reyes in her ruling Saturday noted that Trump's posts presented a problem for the government.

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"They indicate that the Washington National Plan is final and that [National Park Service] will close the Park to implement it," she wrote. "Both points favor granting Plaintiffs’ motion for another temporary restraining order."

The park’s redevelopment is one of multiple projects in the nation's capital that Trump has championed to remake the city. They include a large memorial arch, a White House ballroom and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, among others.

Reyes, who was nominated to the court by Joe Biden, had for months been reticent about approving the plaintiffs’ requests for work stoppages. The plaintiffs had argued the administration was moving ahead with work related to the project despite the pending lawsuit.

Her reluctance to issue orders ended in October, spurred in part by a tree-cutting spree by the administration over a holiday weekend with little notification to the judge or plaintiffs.

Officials and government lawyers said the tree work was part of a 2019 plan that recommended the cutting. In response, the judge confronted the administration over what she portrayed as deceitful actions over its intentions for the project.

Reyes has repeatedly expressed frustration over the minute planning details she has been asked to adjudicate, including over the trees being cut down at the 106-year-old park.

The Associated Press contributed to this report