Judge imposes new limits on Trump’s golf course renovation

CNN · ABC News and ABC News report that a federal judge has kept in place a freeze on changes to East Potomac Golf Course, the century-old public course in Washington that President Donald Trump wants to redevelop. Judge Ana Reyes ruled Monday, converting her earlier temporary hold into a preliminary injunction. It stops the government from cutting or harming more trees while the lawsuit proceeds. ABC News adds that the administration must also give ten days' written notice before making any irreparable modification to the course's forms or features. CNN says her 70-page opinion relied on Trump's own public statements about his plans.

The dispute escalated after the administration felled at least 400 trees with little warning to the plaintiffs, the D. C. Preservation League and two golfers. CNN reports Reyes said she had to act because the government did what it had promised it would not. ABC News says Trump announced on October 18 a fifteen-month closure beginning November 15, then declared the next day that work would begin immediately. The judge said the government was effectively asking her to disregard the sitting president, and noted the conflict between his claims and sworn testimony from government employees.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN · ABC News and ABC News’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN · ABC News → Also at ABC News →