Furious judge orders freeze after 400 trees are cut down in East Potomac Park

A furious federal judge ordered a freeze to the Trump administration’s plan for more than 500 trees to be cut down in D.C.’s East Potomac Park. More than 400 trees were cut down over the weekend.

Judge Ana Reyes raised her voice at government attorneys and said she was upset the government did not give proper notice before crews cut down the trees.

“I trusted you all to not do precisely what you did,” she said.

Reyes said the government filed notice at 4:55 p.m. Friday saying up to 529 trees would be removed from the park, saying the trees needed to be removed in line with a rehabilitation plan from 2019.

News4 video on Saturday morning shows crews with chainsaws, and huge trees crashing to the ground. The government said about 400 trees were removed.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump announced plans to renovate the park’s golf course. Community members were outraged, and the D.C. Preservation League filed a lawsuit. The judge ordered the Trump administration to give reasonable notice before removing more than 10 trees or closing the golf course.

Reyes called an emergency hearing via video call on the holiday and ordered the National Park Service superintendent to testify under oath about why the work was done.

“I am thoroughly unamused right now,” she said. “I do not know how I could’ve made it any clearer that I did not want what was to happen to happen.”

“What has happened has caused the government to lose all credibility in this case,” Reyes went on to say.

The Park Service superintendent and government attorneys indicated that discussions and plans for the tree work in the park were first discussed earlier in the week. The judge wanted to know why the government didn’t let anyone know any sooner.

A group called “Save East Potomac Park” said in a post on X, “They knew that they could clear vast swaths of East Potomac Park before anybody even had a clue what they were doing. It’s why they didn’t even bother cleaning up. They left destroyed trees and debris strewn about.”

The judge issued an order stopping all work on the golf course until 7 a.m. Tuesday.

“If that order is violated by so much as two seconds, there will be contempt proceedings,” she said.

Late Monday evening, the judge issued another order, postponing the hearing on the stop work order until next Monday. 

As the Trump administration has hundreds of trees in East Potomac Park chopped down, some community members are rallying to save the park and its golf course, which has deep connections to the Civil Rights Movement. News4’s Jackie Bensen reports.

'Sad sight to see'

It was noisy for golfers at East Potomac Park on Saturday. The hum of saws filled the air as crews removed trees near the golf course.

The work grabbed the attention of people who use the park regularly.

“It's a sad sight to see. Very sad,” said John, a D.C. resident.

In June, Trump announced plans to transform the golf course at the park into a championship-level course.

More than 500 trees could be removed from East Potomac Park, according to a new court filing from the Department of the Interior. News4's Jessica Albert reports.

The Park Service's Friday night filing states the trees “do not contribute to the historic landscape” of the park and are being removed as part of a “tree management and cultural landscape rehabilitation project.”

“With something that was submitted late yesterday, work begins today. We're anxious about the process,” said Kalli Krumpos, the advocacy director for the Washington Area Bicyclists Association.

The association has held three protests about this before, including one just last week.

“We think there needs to be public involvement. We want transparency. We want accountability,” Krumpos said.

News4 reached out to the D.C. Preservation League. The director said in a statement that the Trump administration is citing a 2019 cultural landscape report to justify the tree removal.

The statement goes on to say, “The government has promised the Court it will pursue all legally required approvals before proceeding with work on the site; this action directly violates those promises.”

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association is planning its fourth protest on Oct. 31.

News4 reached out to the Department of the Interior. A spokesperson emailed back to reiterate that the tree removal is part of that 2019 rehabilitation plan, saying, “The work will help restore the course's historic character and reopen views toward landmarks, including the Washington Monument.”

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