Trump admin cut down 430 trees at DC golf course renovation site, court docs confirm

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<p>Inquiries flooded in from readers this week asking whether the Trump administration chopped down 430 trees over the weekend at East Potomac Park in Washington, D.C., right where the administration intends to redevelop the East Potomac Golf Links.</p>

<p>Earlier this year, officials <a href="https://x.com/SecretaryBurgum/status/2054934836771488181" target="_blank">revealed visual plans</a> to transform the location into a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/06/26/us/trump-dc-golf-course.html" target="_blank">championship-style golf course</a>. Following that, Trump <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/donald-trump-east-potomac-golf-links-washington-dc-course-renovation-interior-department-doug-burgum-tom-fazio-parks-federal-court-land-use-project-truth-social-pga-us-open-september-1" target="_blank">announced</a> via <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116829203090822692" target="_blank">Truth Social</a> that construction would kick off in September. In response, the DC Preservation League initiated a <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.289401/gov.uscourts.dcd.289401.1.0_1.pdf" target="_blank">lawsuit</a> to halt the project, with U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes presiding.</p>

<p>The rumor quickly spread across social media channels, including <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/thewarningses.bsky.social/post/3mxr6x4qvwk2r">Bluesky</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/randy.martin.923/posts/pfbid02gsWA8SvovUBVA2dGTMLSvcZdbUuvJS4N4DcWkX9vZAG8xZvGvaBAEaHGhvCxwYFXl">Facebook</a>, and <a href="https://www.threads.com/@olga.olga977/post/DeaPJgsDhrx">Threads</a>, with users asking if the reported tree removal was accurate.</p>

<p>Ultimately, the claim that the administration carried out and scheduled the removal of 430 trees from the golf course renovation site is true.</p>

<p>According to a <a href="https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2026cv0477-79">memorandum opinion</a> issued by Judge Reyes on Tuesday, the tree clearing was indeed underway. Reyes granted an emergency temporary restraining order requested by the DC Preservation League, halting the administration's work for two weeks through October 26.</p>

<p>Reyes' ruling followed an <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/mollyroberts.bsky.social/post/3mxonfgoenc2k">emergency</a> <a href="https://x.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/2109646628512813441">hearing</a> on Monday. She specifically criticized the abrupt nature of the operation, noting that crews cut down 430 "healthy, non-invasive" trees after the government provided notice to the court merely minutes before business hours ended ahead of a holiday weekend. Although the administration defended the cuts by pointing to recommendations from a 2019 National Park Service document, Reyes expressed strong skepticism regarding the timing.</p>

<p>In communications with the Interior Department, spokespersons skirted direct questions regarding the lack of reasonable notice given to the court while indirectly confirming the tree felling. Inquiries sent to the White House, the National Park Service, and the DC Preservation League are pending further updates.</p>

<h2>430 trees cut down with very little notice</h2>
<p>Judge Reyes outlined the sequence of events in her written opinion:</p>
<ul>
    <li>Internal discussions regarding tree removal began inside the Interior Department early last week.</li>
    <li>The government gave notice to the court <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.289401/gov.uscourts.dcd.289401.76.4.pdf">late last Friday at 4:55 p.m.</a>, stating intentions to remove "up to 529 trees" to recreate a historic links-style design.</li>
    <li>Operations commenced just 15 hours later at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday.</li>
    <li>An emergency court hearing was convened the following Monday, which was Columbus Day—a federal holiday.</li>
</ul>

<p>During Monday's proceedings, Reyes reportedly voiced extreme frustration that officials delayed notifying the court despite knowing about the plans days in advance. Back in May, the Associated Press reported that the judge instructed the government to provide advance notice if plans involved removing more than 10 trees.</p>

<p>An eyewitness journalist from NBC4 Washington noted that it was the angriest they had ever witnessed a judge during courtroom proceedings, describing Reyes as visibly raising her voice at government attorneys.</p>

<p>Reyes wrote in her decision:</p>
<blockquote>
    <p>The Government then did precisely what Plaintiffs feared. Sometime between the September 3 hearing and October 2, plans moved from removing only hazardous, dead, dying, or invasive trees to removing hundreds of healthy, non-invasive trees. And then it removed them without providing meaningful notice to Plaintiffs or the Court.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Administration lawyers acknowledged in court that crews removed 430 nonhazardous trees, while noting that roughly 300 additional trees were slated for removal but spared temporarily due to rain delays. This brought the total targeted trees well above the initial 529-tree threshold mentioned in the government's late notice.</p>

<p>Reporters covering the courtroom live confirmed the discussion around the <a href="https://x.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/2109648651379421631">430 nonhazardous trees</a> already felled and the <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/mollyroberts.bsky.social/post/3mxopjurzfk2k">299 additional trees</a> targeted out of the park's total population of roughly 3,800.</p>

<h2>Interior Department response and 2019 plans</h2>
<p>In an email response, an Interior Department representative criticized Reyes' involvement in the matter while sidestepping direct questions about the short-notice tree clearing, though the message indirectly validated that the work had taken place.</p>

<p>The spokesperson described the course as "riddled with garbage and choked by overgrown trees," adding that the project executes a seven-year-old initiative to address overgrowth.</p>

<p>According to Reyes, the administration argued that the actions followed a Tree Management Plan tied to a 2019 Cultural Landscape Report produced during Trump's first term, maintaining it had no connection to the modern golf course redesign. Reyes remained unconvinced, writing:</p>

<blockquote>
    <p>The Government claims that the TMP implements a 2019 Cultural Landscape Report and has nothing to do with the Washington National Plan. It is a coincidence, the Government seems to suggest, that DOI cut down hundreds of trees at the Course weeks after the President asked DOI to cut down trees at the Course, and not, say, any other time in the last seven years.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The <a href="https://perma.cc/X92Z-W8FC">2019 report</a> references architect Walter J. Travis’s original 1917 design, emphasizing that traditional links-style layouts traditionally feature sparse vegetation so players have clear sightlines and wind exposure. It noted that decades of neglect and unregulated planting had introduced numerous trees that conflicted with the historic layout.</p>

<p>When asked whether attached photos of park debris depicted construction waste from the nearby White House East Wing renovation—where debris was previously dumped—the department issued a one-word denial: "No."</p>

<p>Related rumors concerning cherry trees at the same historic location have previously circulated, though Judge Reyes' opinion did not address those claims.</p>