Trump says East Potomac renovation will proceed despite judge’s order blocking golf course closure

President Trump is insisting his plan to redevelop East Potomac Park in Washington, D.C., and renovate the public golf course there will be carried out as scheduled despite an order from a federal judge halting future work at the site.

In a Truth Social post late Monday, the president said “we are closing the East Potomac Golf Course Site as scheduled” on Nov. 15, saying a judge “does not have the Constitutional Right to ‘ask for or receive notices,’ which are time-consuming, unnecessary, expensive, and unconstitutional.”

The president’s post came hours after U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes granted a preliminary injunction requested by a preservationist group and group of local D.C. golfers asking her to stop the Trump administration from cutting trees at the park as part of the redevelopment project.

“We will immediately appeal this decision,” Trump said. “When completed, it is anticipated that this Course, which will be open to the Public, at a reduced rate for those living in Washington, D.C., will be one of the finest anywhere in the World.”

Trump has enlisted the help of leading golf course architect Tom Fazio on the project, which would transform D.C.’s most widely used public golf course into an 18-hole, championship-length facility he hopes would lure professional tournaments to downtown Washington.

The plan would also eliminate walking and biking trails currently at East Potomac Park, and questions remain about the feasibility of the project and affordability for golfers.

“The Development of this World Championship Public Facility must begin, immediately, if it is to be completed in a timely and seasonal manner,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post. “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.”

For the last several years, East Potomac Golf Links has been operated by the National Links Trust, a local nonprofit that had its lease terminated by the Trump administration last December.

Under the trust, East Potomac Golf Links had become a national model for publicly accessible and affordable golf, particularly catering to junior and beginner golfers.

But Trump and his allies have for months argued changes are needed at the Hains Point property, and the president, who owns dozens of championship courses around the world, can transform the course into a world-renown venue.

“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,’” Trump wrote in his posts. “The judge has absolutely no right to hold up this very important and beautiful Project. We are asking the D.C. Circuit Court for immediate remedy.”