Judge smacks Trump with new ban on golf course tree work after apparent defiance

A federal judge ordered an additional two-week ban on cutting trees at a Washington golf course after President Donald Trump’s administration cut down hundreds despite her warnings.

U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes granted a temporary restraining order on Tuesday barring the government from felling any more trees at East Potomac Golf Course through Oct. 26, just a day after saying she could not trust the government.

The order also requires officials to give the court and the plaintiffs three business days’ written notice before making any permanent changes to the course.

The DC Preservation League and two golfers sued, arguing in court papers that the cutting clears the way for Trump’s planned overhaul of the course.

Reyes wrote in the order that they are likely to win their claim that the government skipped an environmental review required by federal law. She also found that the plaintiffs would likely suffer harm the order cannot undo.

At an April hearing, Reyes warned the government not to let the case reach a point where officials tell her it is too late to stop the work, according to the plaintiffs’ emergency motion. A month later, the judge told officials not to cut more than 10 trees without first giving notice.

The motion says the government notified the court and the plaintiffs just before 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9, that crews would begin clearing trees. Workers were cutting by 8 a.m. the next day.

The filing says crews took down 529 trees on Saturday alone, though the government initially said the work would proceed in stages.

“Because we are talking now about potential multiple misrepresentations to the court. And the only reason, the only reason I have not yet entered a show cause on contempt is because I never put this in a formal order, which believe me now, I am regretting,” Reyes said as she closed Monday’s hearing, according to Washington Sun reporter Reese Gorman.

None of Reyes’s spoken warnings were written orders, so she could not yet order officials to show cause, the formal first step toward contempt of court, Gorman reported. Contempt is how judges punish people who defy their orders.

On Tuesday, the judge put it in writing. Court records show Reyes entered the formal order halting all tree removal for two weeks. The judge also rescheduled a Tuesday morning hearing that could have allowed the tree cutting to move forward.

“If that order is violated by two seconds, there are going to be contempt proceedings,” Reyes warned, according to Politico’s Kyle Cheney. “So now we’re all gonna have a massive fire drill because the government can’t be trusted.”

Frank Lands, the National Park Service’s deputy director for operations, testified Monday that Gregory Wischer, deputy chief of staff to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, ordered the cuts, WUSA9’s Eric Flack reported. Flack also reported that Wischer accompanied Trump on a June tour of the golf course.

The government said 430 trees came down over the weekend, and Kevin Griess, superintendent of National Mall and Memorial Parks, testified there were “no identified hazardous or safety concern trees” among them, Flack reported.

Reyes has ordered Wischer and Park Service Comptroller Jessica Bowron to give sworn testimony at a hearing on Monday, Oct. 19, according to her order.

Any motion for a preliminary injunction, a longer-term order that would stay in place while the case proceeds, is due by noon Wednesday, with the government’s response due Friday, the same order says.