Trump orders redo of DC public golf course, defying judge

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Oct 19, 2026

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President Donald Trump on Monday defended ordering the extensive redevelopment of a historic Washington, D.C. public golf course in defiance of a federal judge’s orders.

The duffer in chief announced the imminent closure of the East Potomac Golf Course, the closest links to the White House, for a planned 15-month renovation to transform it into what he vowed would be “one of the Best and Most Spectacular Golf Courses anywhere in the World.”

“The United States Department of Interior wants to take a terrible and very unsafe golf course, and make it into a great, safe, and prestigious golf course. They have an absolute right to do so. It’s as simple as that!” Trump wrote on his social media site.

Trump angrily derided U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes, who has ordered all work in his latest vanity project in the nation’s capital to stop for a week at least, and has rejected the government’s efforts to have her removed from presiding over the case.

“The judge on the case is a crazed lunatic whose courthouse tapes will reveal, may be insane,” the president wrote.

Reyes admits blowing her stack at a Trump administration lawyer after the feds started the renovation by cutting down dozens of mature trees at the course over the Columbus Day holiday weekend while providing little notice to the court or golfers and a good government group that have sued to block the makeover.

But she vowed not to step aside, calling Trump’s push to oust her “baseless.”

“By any objective measure, the government fails to meet the standard for recusal,” Reyes wrote in a brief order.

Trump’s rapid-fire declaration of his plans appears to fly in the face of the government lawyer’s assertion that the president had barely even thought about an irreversible transformation of the course.

Ironically, the golf course plan was prematurely revealed by ex-White House press secretary Katie Zacharia. She posted, then photoshopped out, a copy of the design sitting on Trump’s desk in a farewell message following her firing less than a week into a rocky brief tenure as Trump’s top mouthpiece.

In an earlier post, Trump heaped praise on the proposed opulent design for the new golf course, which was created by a famed golf course designer who has worked on some of Trump’s private golf resorts.

No price tag has been revealed.

“When completed, it will be open to the Public while, at the same time, designed to the Highest Level of Golf and able to hold World Class Tournaments such as the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup, and the Presidents Cup,” Trump wrote.

The plan would apparently eliminate a public playground and cycling trail that are part of the current golf course.

Democracy Forward, which is representing the golf course users challenging the Trump plan, said the century-old golf course is a popular part of a national park and recreation facility that is meant for everyone to enjoy.

“Our litigation is intended to protect this community jewel for the people and communities it serves and we will continue to work with our plaintiffs to defend it from unlawful and harmful intrusion,” said Skye Perryman, the group’s president, said in a statement.

Trump had already announced plans to makeover the links as part of his broader push to renovate and refurbish well-known civic spaces in Washington, including the White House, the Reflecting Pool and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Almost all of the plans have drawn intense public opposition and legal resistance. Trump has much more power over D.C. because the district is not a state and its finances are effectively overseen by the federal government.

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