US District Judge Ana Reyes declined Thursday night to extend a temporary restraining order barring tree removal at Washington’s East Potomac Golf Links beyond its Monday, Oct 26 expiration, while ordering Interior Department Deputy Chief of Staff Gregory Wischer not to delete data from his phone as she considers a preliminary injunction. Earlier Thursday, Washington Post reporter Dan Diamond photographed work crews, debris and reduced tree cover on the course from a flight.
The order follows a week of escalation over President Donald Trump’s plan to close the public facility on Nov 15 for a 15 month championship redesign by golf course architect Tom Fazio. After Trump called Reyes a “crazed lunatic” on Monday and declared that the Interior Department does not need court approval to begin work immediately, he posted photos of the property on Tuesday calling it “Trash Island” and citing a “Collapsing Sea Wall.” Reyes imposed the restraining order on Oct 13 after National Park Service crews cut down 430 trees over a holiday weekend with late notice to the court, and on Monday she denied a Justice Department recusal motion signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward.