Trump says Washington golf course renovation to start in November, despite judge's order

(Adds court order, government response, post details; paragraphs 3,6-8) Oct 18 - US President Donald Trump said on ​Sunday that his administration would begin renovation work next month ​on a historic Washington golf course that a ‌federal ​judge had ordered could not proceed without prior court notification.

The renovation work, which Trump earlier this year had said would begin in September, has become the subject of a lawsuit over environmental and historic ‌preservation concerns. Trump wrote in a Sunday morning post on Truth Social that work on the East Potomac Golf Links would begin on November 15 and that it would reopen in about 15 months. Trump later posted that the Interior Department, which oversees the golf course, "is very excited" about the ‌latest renovation plans.

The renovation is among a number of projects Trump is pursuing to reshape the White House and other Washington landmarks. US ‌District Judge Ana Reyes ruled earlier this year that the government must give notice before any substantive construction work on the golf course could proceed, and last week issued an order halting the removal of trees at the site, which she called "inexcusable."

After the president's posts appeared on Truth Social, Reyes ordered the Trump administration to explain whether ⁠it maintained its ​position argued last week that there ⁠is "no final agency action" regarding the course, and that at most, "the President has given preliminary thought" to the renovations. Responding to the judge's order, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward wrote ⁠in a filing that any redesign of the golf course is not an "agency action."

"Just as a decision to redesign all the art exhibits in a Smithsonian ​Museum would not be agency action, neither would a decision to redesign a golf course, or to trim trees, replace fences, expand ⁠the fairways, or mow the lawn," Woodward wrote. The DC Preservation League brought a lawsuit in February to halt the administration's takeover of the golf course, alleging that it would ⁠violate ​environmental laws and "irreparably destroy a priceless piece of American history."

In an October 9 court filing, the Trump administration had asked Reyes to dismiss the litigation, saying it was premature because the "proposed project remains at an early and conceptual stage." The following day, however, the government removed about ⁠500 trees from the site, which it said would improve safety at the park and restore its original design, and was part of a ⁠2019 plan that predates Trump's ambitions ⁠for the course. Reyes ordered a halt to the removals.

On Friday, the government filed a motion to disqualify Reyes and move the case to another district judge, saying her actions had shown "deep-seated and unequivocal antipathy toward ‌the Trump Administration," according ‌to court records.