Judge mandates pause on tree removal at East Potomac Golf Links after over 500 cut down

Published October 12, 2026 10:58am ET | Updated October 12, 2026 1:07pm ET



A federal judge temporarily blocked the National Park Service from cutting down any more trees at the East Potomac Golf Links after the service began removing hundreds of trees on the golf course on Saturday.

Biden-appointed district judge for the District of Columbia Ana C. Reyes issued a minute order ahead of a 10 a.m. hearing on Monday, ordering the Trump administration to halt the removal of any trees from the Washington, D.C., golf course until Tuesday at 7 a.m. Reyes’s order and hearing came as the latest development in the legal saga between the Trump administration and historic preservationists seeking to stop President Donald Trump from renovating the golf course.

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