Who is Ana Reyes, federal judge Trump called a ‘crazed lunatic’?

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes shot down the Justice Department’s (DOJ) demand to not participate in a key hearing on Monday on the future of East Potomac Park, which President Trump wants to turn into a championship-style golf course.

The Trump administration has alleged that Reyes is biased after she yelled at a government attorney last week over hundreds of trees being cut down at the park without extra notice.

Reyes is overseeing a lawsuit brought by a preservationist group and golfers challenging Trump’s desire for the championship-style golf course.

“The judge on the case is a crazed lunatic whose courthouse tapes will reveal, may be insane?” Trump wrote on Truth Social early Monday.

Here’s what you need to know about Reyes:

Born in Uruguay, Reyes was raised in Louisville, Ky. She attended Transylvania University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1996, eventually going on to earn her law degree at Harvard University in 2000.

In 2001, Reyes spent time as U.S. Appellate Judge Amalya L. Kearse’s law clerk. From 2001 to 2023, she was a litigation attorney for Williams & Connolly LLP, a D.C.-based law firm. According to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s website, while at the firm, her work was centered around “international litigation, representing foreign governments, foreign government officials, and multinational companies.”

In February 2023, former President Biden appointed Reyes to her current role on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Upon entering the position, she became the first openly LGBTQ official to serve as an Article III judge in Washington, D.C.

According to a press release from the Biden White House from April 2022, Reyes is also the first U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s Hispanic woman. The Biden White House touted her LGBTQ and Hispanic identity in the release.

Reyes was confirmed by the Senate in a tight 51-47 vote, with the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) the only Republican to vote in her favor.

Reyes’s current clash with the current administration is not the first time she’s butted heads with the federal government under Trump.

In March 2025 , she blocked implementation of an executive order from the president effectively restricting transgender people from serving openly in the military. Reyes barred Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other military officials from putting the order or new policy effectuating it in place.

Reyes also found that Trump broke the law by firing multiple inspectors general at the beginning of his second term, but also that she couldn’t put them back in their jobs.