President Donald Trump attacked U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes just after 6 a.m. on Monday, hours after she refused the Justice Department's demand that she step aside from the East Potomac golf course case. Writing on Truth Social, the president called the judge presiding over his planned renovation of the Washington, D.C. public course a "crazed lunatic" and declared that the work will begin "IMMEDIATELY" — even though her order blocking further tree-cutting at the course runs through Oct. 26, and a key hearing in the case is set for today.
"The United States Department of Interior wants to take a terrible and very unsafe golf course, and make it into a great, safe, and prestigious golf course. They have an absolute right to do so. It's as simple as that!" Trump wrote. He said the experts at Interior are allowed to carry out what he called a First Class renovation "as of right," insisting: "They do not need an approval. Work is scheduled to begin IMMEDIATELY!" He also dismissed the golfer behind the lawsuit, saying the "random golfer bringing the ridiculous lawsuit has ZERO STANDING!" — and complained that courthouse tapes which he says would expose the judge "have been blocked from usage by the judge."
"The judge on the case is a crazed lunatic whose courthouse tapes will reveal, may be insane?" — President Donald Trump
The attack came after Reyes, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, late on Sunday denied the Justice Department's motion demanding her recusal from the case. In a 13-page opinion, she wrote: "It is easy to weaponize selective quotations to bring a baseless recusal motion. But it is much harder to meet the demanding legal standard against a full record." She added: "By any objective measure, the Government fails to meet the standard for recusal." And she pushed back on the claim that her courtroom conduct forced the government's hand: "The Government created an emergent situation. The Court responded."
The confrontation sits on top of an announcement Trump made only a day earlier. On Sunday, he said East Potomac Golf Links — the historic public course on National Park Service land in the capital — will close to play on Nov. 15 for a roughly 15-month rebuild led by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's department and architect Tom Fazio. The new course, he said, would stay open to the public while being "able to hold World Class Tournaments such as the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup, and the Presidents Cup." He called the current course "old, broken, dilapidated," with "falling, dangerous, and disease infested trees and, importantly, a collapsing and hazardous seawall."
The fight in court began over the trees. Over the Oct. 10–11 holiday weekend, the National Park Service cut about 430 trees at the course with little notice to the court, in a case where Reyes had already ruled this year that the government must give notice before substantive construction work moves forward. Furious at learning of the cutting after the fact, Reyes halted any further tree removal until at least Oct. 26. On Friday, the Justice Department answered by asking her to step aside altogether. Its motion, signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr., says she "repeatedly belittled and shouted at" a government lawyer, calls her conduct "nothing short of egregious," and accuses her of violating the basic norms that a judge be fair and impartial. It points to moments including her asking a government lawyer whether they were unable to use a phone or drive a car, and her demands that administration witnesses testify on a federal holiday. The plaintiffs — the DC Preservation League and two local golfers — say they are "aware of no basis for disqualification or recusal."
That leaves the two sides on a collision course at today's hearing, a key session on the future of East Potomac Park. The judge's order still forbids any more tree-cutting through Oct. 26, and she remains on the case. The president, for his part, says no approval is needed and the work starts now. He closed his post the same way he has framed the whole project: "The finished product will be World Class, and bring income and great prestige back to D.C."
Never miss a story — join us on Telegram: https://t.me/profilopoliticsnews