Judge Demands Answers About Plans for Trump's East Potomac Golf Course [View all]

Source: New York Times

Judge Demands Answers About Plans for Trump's East Potomac Golf Course

In a fiery hearing, Judge Ana C. Reyes hammered the government over denials that the president was forging ahead with plans to renovate the course without approval.



President Trump inspected plans for his proposed renovation of the East Potomac Golf Course on Sunday. Eric Lee for The New York Times

By Zach Montague
https://www.nytimes.com/by/zach-montague
Reporting from Washington

July 2, 2026, 5:27 p.m. ET

A federal judge on Thursday confronted a Justice Department lawyer about President Trump's plans to build a championship-level golf course on a peninsula in Washington, after she ordered the department to come before her with more specific details about possible construction. ... Judge Ana C. Reyes of the Federal District Court in Washington grew impatient during a hearing in which Michael Robertson, the government lawyer, struggled to provide a timeline or vision for what appeared to be accelerating efforts by the president to start work on transforming the East Potomac Golf Links.

It was the latest in a long series of standoffs and mistrustful interactions between federal judges and the Trump administration over the president's second-term efforts to remake parts of the capital. ... On Thursday, she drew parallels to the ways Mr. Trump had secretively rushed to begin other construction projects before the government acknowledged they were underway, including the ballroom the president is building to replace the East Wing of the White House.

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Judge Reyes pressed Mr. Robertson to confirm that despite indications the president had already commissioned a design from Mr. Fazio, there was no formal effort underway to renovate the course. ... "I just want to make sure it's loud and clear to the White House that the government's position in a U.S. courtroom -- in front of a federal judge -- is that there has not been a decision made to pursue this golf course," she said. "That it's still 'maybe he will, maybe he won't."

"Our position is: Both things can be true," Mr. Robertson said, indicating that federal agencies were still deliberating even as Mr. Trump moved ahead with planning. ... "No, both things cannot be true," she said, adding: "So assuming that you don't believe in multiple universes: On this earth, we have a decision that's been made about a golf course."

Zach Montague is a Times reporter covering the federal courts, including the legal disputes over the Trump administration's agenda.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/zach-montague

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/02/us/politics/trump-golf-course-plans-doj.html