President Trump loudly announced his plans to ignore and appeal a judge’s order blocking his planned takeover of a public golf course in Washington, D.C., calling the decision “time-consuming, unnecessary, expensive, and unconstitutional.”
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes extended the order barring the Trump administration and the National Parks Service from cutting down more trees at the golf course while the lawsuit remains active. The order also requires the administration to give 10 days’ notice before making any “irreparable modification” to any “forms or features” on the property.
This got Trump ranting and raving on Truth Social late Monday night.
“JUDGE ASKS FOR NOTIFICATION AS PUBLIC GOLF COURSE PROJECT, IN WASHINGTON, D.C., IS BUILT. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR TO APPEAL THIS UNCONSTITUTIONAL REQUEST,” he wrote. “We believe this Project is totally ‘as of right,’ and that the judge does not have the Constitutional Right to ‘ask for or receive notices,’ which are time-consuming, unnecessary, expensive, and unconstitutional. We will immediately appeal this decision.”
He went on to claim he must ignore the court ruling due to “wayward” balls on the golf course.
“To have to give advanced notices to a judge who has no expertise in Golf, Architecture, Landscaping, Construction, or anything else having to do with building such a World Class Project, is not fair, appropriate, or Constitutional,” he continued. “In its current form, the Course is extremely dangerous to play, in that the narrow and nondescript fairways are far too close together, leading to a constant barrage of people being hit with wayward shots, and the echoing throughout the air of the word, ‘FORE!’ The judge has absolutely no right to hold up this very important and beautiful Project.”
This latest crashout comes just over a week after Trump called Reyes a “crazed lunatic” after she lambasted the Trump administration for giving her last-minute notice that it would start cutting down trees in the park. When Justice Department attorney Marissa Piropato argued the government’s actions over the weekend were “not a renovation,” Reyes called her excuse “preposterous,” “doublespeak,” and “completely beyond the pale.”
While East Potomac Golf Links was already slated for renovations, Trump’s federal takeover of the project—which aims to turn the once beautiful and accessible course into a massive property to host championship golf tournaments—has been a complete legal mess.