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Judge asks whether Trump's golf course plans remain preliminary
After Trump's Sunday posts, Judge Reyes ordered the administration to clarify whether its golf course rebuilding plans remained preliminary.
After Trump's social media posts Sunday, Judge Reyes ordered the administration to tell her whether plans to rebuild the golf course remained preliminary. She also asked whether there continued to be no final agency action for the site.
Trump said the U.S. Interior Department had worked with golf architect Tom Fazio on a plan to build a championship course at the current East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C.
The proposed renovations would begin Nov. 15 and take 15 months to complete.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes had ordered the administration last week to stop work on the park after hundreds of trees were cut down. That work may have violated an earlier order requiring the Interior Department and National Park Service to notify the court and preservation groups before proceeding.
Trump said the completed course would remain open to the public and be designed to a standard capable of hosting major tournaments, including the U.S. Open and Ryder Cup.
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Trump announces 15-month closure plan for public Washington golf course
President Donald Trump announced plans Sunday to close a historic public golf course in Washington for 15 months and redevelop it. The announcement came despite an ongoing court challenge to the renovation.
In a social media post, Trump said he intended to close East Potomac Golf Course starting Nov. 15. He described his ambition to turn the course, near the White House, into one of the world's best.
A judge last week ordered redevelopment plans halted until at least Oct. 26. The judge criticized the government for beginning large-scale tree removal over a holiday weekend with little notice to the court or the plaintiffs challenging the project.
Trump argued that the existing course was in poor condition. In his post, he described trees as dangerous and diseased and said the seawall was collapsing and hazardous.
The 106-year-old park and course has served Washingtonians across income levels. Opponents of the proposed high-end redevelopment argue that it would change the space's character and make it less affordable.
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Judge Reyes seeks government position on East Potomac Golf Course plan
Judge Reyes had ordered the government to say by 8 p.m. ET Sunday whether its position had changed. A Friday court filing had described Trump as having given, at most, preliminary thought to rebuilding East Potomac Golf Course.
The government said Sunday that its position on the plan had not changed: the proposal remained non-final because the National Park Service had not completed its review. It maintained that there had been no final agency action.
Reyes had previously required the government to give notice before substantial work at the site. That notice was not given before more than 500 trees were removed from the historic golf course earlier this month.
The administration has said the tree cutting was separate from Trump's redesign and followed recommendations in a 2019 cultural-landscape report. Reyes has expressed skepticism about that explanation.
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