Trump says Interior Department will appeal order blocking D.C. golf course renovations

President Donald Trump said late Monday that the Department of the Interior would appeal what he called an "UNCONSTITUTIONAL REQUEST" by a judge in the fight over Washington's East Potomac Golf Course. He said the course will close "as scheduled on November 15th."

“The judge has absolutely no right to hold up this very important and beautiful Project,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. "We are asking the D.C. Circuit Court for immediate remedy."

At the heart of the conflict is the gap between what federal officials and lawyers have said about the president’s plans for the course — which they have characterized as preliminary and not final — and the president’s statements on social media.

Justice Department lawyers told the court there was "no final agency action" on a rebuild, while Reyes's order displayed screenshots of Trump's Oct. 18 post saying a plan had been "developed" and closure of the existing course was imminent.

In a 70-page preliminary injunction Monday, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes expressed surprise that a conflict over municipal work on a golf course had escalated in such a manner, calling the government’s “act-first-ask-forgiveness-later” approach “concerning.”

"Rarely, if ever, has the United States Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting President," Reyes wrote on Monday. “Not to believe him that a cabinet secretary has ‘developed’ a federal land project. Not to believe him that the secretary’s agency will destroy a historic golf course already on the land.”

East Potomac is on National Park Service land controlled by the Interior Department. The D.C. Preservation League and two residents sued after Interior cut down more than 400 trees on short notice in early October.

Monday’s injunction bars the government from removing or damaging more trees at the East Potomac golf course, or staging heavy machinery that could harm them. The order does not block Trump’s proposed Nov. 15 closure outright. It requires the government to give 10 business days' written notice before closing the course or making major changes to the park, to allow for legal challenges.

“The Government appears to have set the timing of the tree removal and late notice to impede Plaintiffs’ ability to seek Court intervention,” Reyes wrote. “And its recent actions call into question other representations it has made to the Court over these many months.”

But Trump on Monday said the project is "totally 'as of right,'" and complained that Reyes "does not have the Constitutional Right to 'ask for or receive notices.'" He called the course "extremely dangerous," citing "a constant barrage of people being hit with wayward shots." Trump cited no injuries, dates or records.

Trump said the rebuilt course will be "fully capable of holding" the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup.

As of early Tuesday, no appeal had appeared on the D.C. Circuit docket and no emergency motion had appeared in the district court docket. The case is DC Preservation League v. Department of the Interior.

Trump’s posts have become a key element in the East Potomac reconstruction case. On Oct. 18, he wrote that work would begin on Nov. 15, "when the old Course will be closed to play," and that the new course would open in "approximately 15 months."

That night, government lawyers told Reyes there was "no final agency action." At a hearing the next day, a top Interior Department aide testified that he learned of the Nov. 15 date from Trump's post. A Justice Department lawyer said there were no plans to close the course on Nov. 15.

Hours before the government’s lawyers testified on Oct. 19, the president called the judge a "crazed lunatic" who "may be insane" on social media.