President Donald Trump revealed his plans Sunday to revamp a public D.C. golf course to his liking, and in doing so may be “goading” a federal judge into a trap, according to legal expert William L. Shipley.
For months, Trump has floated overhauling the East Potomac Golf Links, a public golf course on federal parkland in Washington, D.C. The Trump administration began removing trees from the site in August, despite an order from U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes requiring advance notice. That prompted Reyes last week to temporarily block all further tree-cutting at the site.
And yet, despite Reyes’ order, Trump appeared to suggest Sunday that the project was moving forward, even sharing an estimated completion date.
“He's goading Judge Reyes into issuing a [Preliminary] Injunction, which will then be appealable to the D.C. Circuit, where she'll almost certainly be reversed after the Ballroom fiasco that led to a SCOTUS reversal,” Shipley, an attorney, legal commentator and former federal prosecutor, wrote Sunday in a social media post on X.
In March, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction restricting work on Trump’s White House ballroom project, an order that was upheld by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. That ruling was stayed, however, in August by the Supreme Court, allowing construction to continue without issuing a definitive decision on the legality of the project.
Shipley suspected that the Trump administration is hoping for a similar outcome regarding the president’s desire to reshape D.C.’s iconic East Potomac Golf Links, while countless critics were left mortified by some of the proposed changes to the site revealed by Trump on Sunday.
“This design appears to completely eliminate the much-beloved loop road and public park at Hains Point, and cut down the cherry trees which line the road,” wrote immigration attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. “The park is a public space used by tens of thousands of Washingtonians and heavily visited by tourists.”
Golf journalist Garrett Morrison was equally disturbed by Trump’s newly unveiled plans for the D.C. staple.
“The Trump administration has finally admitted that its plan for a redesigned East Potomac Golf Links eliminates the road, bike path, and all other recreational areas at Hains Point,” Morrison wrote, calling the plan a “heist of public lands.”
Writer and photographer Joe Flood called Trump’s plan an effort to create “a private enclave for the rich,” and Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg described it as the latest “let them eat cake” moment from the Trump administration.
He's goading Judge Reyes into issuing a Prelim. Injunction, which will then be appealable to the D.C. Circuit, where she'll almost certainly be reversed after the Ballroom fiasco that led to a SCOTUS reversal.
— Shipwreckedcrew (@shipwreckedcrew) October 18, 2026