A US federal judge issued an emergency order Monday halting further tree cutting at a Washington golf course, one of President Donald Trump's many planned projects to reshape the capital, after hundreds of trees were felled.
Judge Ana Reyes granted a request from environmentalists alarmed by what they said was the felling of some 500 trees at the site Saturday and an announcement by authorities that hundreds more would be cut down during the week.
"The removal of hundreds of trees from East Potomac Golf Course is permanent," she said in a brief ruling, barring any further tree cutting until Tuesday morning or further order of the court.
She also scheduled an emergency hearing by videoconference Monday morning to hear arguments from both sides, particularly over the government's failure to provide reasonable notice. It only informed the court and the opposing side of its intentions late Friday.
Trump, an avid golfer, wants to renovate the course, which he says is in disrepair, arguing that it could eventually host major tournaments.
Since returning to the White House in January 2025, the former real estate developer has launched a string of construction and renovation projects to leave his mark on Washington, saying he wants to restore the splendor of a capital he claims his predecessors neglected.
But the Democratic opposition accuses him of squandering public money to satisfy his own vanity, and many of the projects face fierce legal challenges.
They include the monumental ballroom he is having built at the White House, which entailed bulldozing an entire wing of the presidential residence, as well as the renovation of the Kennedy Center, where he wants his name displayed.
Trump himself acknowledged this personal motivation in an interview published in early September.
"Nobody will do it once I'm gone. When I leave here, nobody will," he told New York Magazine, when asked whether he had launched all these projects for his own glory.
