Judge blocks more tree cutting at East Potomac with a preliminary injunction

A federal judge in Washington on Monday, October 26, turned her temporary stop on tree cutting at East Potomac Golf Links into a preliminary injunction. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes barred the Trump administration from removing or damaging any more trees on the public course while the lawsuit over its planned renovation moves forward, according to the Associated Press and Bloomberg Law.

The order also adds a notice requirement. Before the government makes any "irreparable modification" to the course's forms or features, it has to give written notice 10 days ahead, AP reports. Bloomberg Law describes the window as at least ten business days. Her earlier restraining order, which ran through October 26, required three business days.

AP reports the ruling returns to a line Reyes used at a September hearing, when she declined to step in over an earlier round of removals: "I am not the Lorax. I do not speak for the trees."

How it got here

President Trump wants to rebuild the century-old municipal course into a championship-level layout. A preservation group and two D.C. residents sued to stop it. On Friday, October 9, Justice Department lawyers told the court just before 5 p.m. that the National Park Service would start removing trees the next morning. Crews took down about 430 on Saturday, October 10, according to NPR and NBC News.

Reyes held an emergency hearing on October 12, then barred further cutting. At a full hearing on October 19, she questioned Interior and Park Service officials about whether the cutting was tied to the redesign. Law Dork reported that Interior deputy chief of staff Gregory Wischer testified he had received renderings of the renovation plan on his personal phone from Trump allies outside the government. The administration has said the work follows a 2019 Park Service landscape report.

The Fried Egg flagged the injunction on X Monday night.

What it means for golfers

East Potomac stays a public, walk-up course for now, and the trees that are still standing stay standing while the case runs. The ruling does not decide whether the redesign can go ahead. It sets the terms the government has to follow until the court reaches the merits.

What to watch

Watch the docket for any 10-day notice from the government, which would be the first sign of new work on the course. Also watch for an appeal of the injunction and for the environmental review that Reyes found was likely skipped before the October cutting.