East Potamac Golf Course closing, new court filing says

Oct. 29 (UPI) — The U.S. Department of the Interior posted a notice to the court saying the East Potomac Golf Course will close on Nov. 15 as planned.

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward signed the notice posted Wednesday that said the course would close.

President Donald Trump is planning to renovate the golf course and has already torn down more than 400 trees in the park. On Oct. 19, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes ordered that the administration notify the court of any changes planned to the park in advance. Then on Tuesday, Trump criticized her order on Truth Social, saying he planned to shut the course down on Nov. 15 as planned and that she doesn’t have the constitutional power to demand notice.

Reyes then demanded a hearing about the administration’s plans for Friday or Monday because she was assured by Justice Department lawyers that the course wouldn’t be closed.

In the Oct. 19 hearing, Woodward had denied that there were any plans to close the course.

In Wednesday night’s filing, Woodward said the department had reached a new lease agreement with East Potomac Golf Links in which the organization would give up management of the course before Nov. 15.

Trump posted on Truth Social Wednesday night that the course is “highly dangerous, and absolutely disgusting.” He claimed that a White House staffer was “hit violently in the chest” by a stray ball and that the driving range is “a threat to life and limb.”

“The current condition of the golf course is a National Disgrace, but we will make it a WORLD CLASS PUBLIC Golf Course that is AFFORDABLE for locals — Just like the Great and Historic Public Courses of Torrey Pines and Bethpage Black, only better, for the good of our now Beautiful Again Washington, D.C. After we are done, the East Potomac Course will be a place of immeasurable Pride for the City, all of the Golf Enthusiasts who live here, a Course worthy of and befitting our Nation’s Capital. We will hold the judge, Ana C. Reyes, fully responsible for anybody who is hurt, or killed, on this very dangerous, dilapidated, and unsightly Golf Course,” he posted on Truth Social.

The filing said, “With respect to the ongoing planning process to renovate the East Potomac Golf Course itself, Defendants will follow all relevant procedural requirements in finalizing and implementing the [course designer’s] plan.”