Judge seeks stronger Trump assurances on plans for DC golf course project

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday demanded firmer commitments from the Trump administration that it would not go ahead with plans to renovate a historic golf course in Washington, D.C., until the matter was resolved in court, pointing to comments by the president as an indication that the changes could be moving ahead.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said recent statements by President Donald Trump on social media that major renovations would begin Sept. 1 on the East Potomac Golf Links raised her concerns. She also noted the course plans displayed when he visited the course Sunday made clear that the administration was further along than had been publicly acknowledged.

Reyes made no formal decision on the case Thursday, saying that after speaking to the attorney representing the government, they seemed to be operating within the legal framework for approval.

“I’m just not there yet,” she said in not taking action. “I’m not going to assume the agency is going to act in bad faith.”

Plaintiffs want the administration to halt its plans

Reyes gave the two sides two weeks to work on language that would give her and the plaintiffs assurances that they would not suddenly learn in the “middle of the night” that there were bulldozers at the course “chopping down cherry trees.”′

The judge’s comments came after a request for a hearing from the plaintiffs suing the administration to stop its plans. The court filing said this most recent request for legal intervention resulted from recent visits by Trump to several places around the capital that he has been renovating and altering.

Trump, an avid golfer, posted about the visit to the course on social media, “When completed, this Course will have the ability to host Major Golf Tournaments, including The U.S. Open, The Ryder Cup, The PGA Championship, and other top PGA Tour events.” It’s unclear when the course could host any major tournaments, as locations are chosen several years ahead of the events.

The visit included the presence of extensive plans by course designer Tom Fazio, who accompanied Trump. Reyes said it was hard to believe someone who makes “millions” designing golf courses would have designed a proposal and escorted Trump “out of the goodness of his heart.”

Michael Robertson, the Justice Department lawyer representing the government, said Fazio had not been hired or designated by the Interior Department to design the course and said the process would still be open to other plans. He called the plans that had been seen “conceptual.”

Robertson also told Reyes repeatedly that there was still a lengthy process to undergo that would include signoffs from various planning organizations, the National Capital Planning Commission and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. Reyes noted the Planning Commission is filled with Trump allies who have already approved a number of his pet projects, including the White House ballroom and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Golf course lawsuit is latest challenge to Trump’s capital projects

The course renovation is only one of the controversies surrounding it. The course has also been used as a dumping ground for debris from the demolition of the East Wing of the White House, which Trump ordered torn down in preparation for the construction of a ballroom.

Reyes said she needed to see evidence from the plaintiffs that the debris poses a danger to people and the environment before she would consider any action there, such as order the debris’ removal.

The golf course lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal battles that have sought to challenge Trump’s extraordinary efforts to put his mark on public spaces in the nation’s capital.

Reyes made reference to those projects repeatedly when she emphasized that she wanted to avoid the administration’s habit of proceeding with work faster than the judicial system could stop it. “I don’t want a destroyed East Wing, a destroyed reflecting pool” before knowing the work was approved, she said.

The 106-year-old public course has been embroiled in the lawsuit since February. The complaint, against the Department of the Interior, says the Trump administration’s reconstruction of East Potomac Park — which includes the East Potomac Golf Course — would violate the congressional act that created the park in 1897.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, the DC Preservation League, sought an emergency stop in May because of similar concerns that work was expected to begin immediately on the course.