Justice Department Confirms Plan to Close East Potomac Golf Links by Nov. 15

More than 500 trees were cut down at East Potomac Golf Links in a single weekend, a fact that has complicated the legal status of the historic course in Washington, D.C. The Department of the Interior is now preparing to close the facility by Nov. 15, according to senior Justice Department officials speaking Wednesday.

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward acknowledged the president’s posts on Truth Social in a brief filed with the U.S. district court. Trump stated the course will close for a temporary redesign to address competitive, safety, modernization, and aesthetic issues. Woodward wrote that Interior is working with counsel to develop a plan for that direction and will notify the court.

The filing marks a shift in a months-long legal battle over the future of the public course, which has operated since 1920. The case was brought by a local preservation group and two golfers. Administration officials previously described the renovation as a possible project and said there was no finalized proposal to redesign the course.

Trump announced this month that Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and golf architect Tom Fazio developed a plan for a world-class championship golf course. He said the current course would close Nov. 15 to allow work to begin, with the new facility opening in approximately 15 months.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes ordered the halt to tree removal after the weekend felling. She barred the government from removing or damaging any trees while the litigation continues. Reyes wrote in a 70-page ruling that rarely has the Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting president. She cited a hearing where Woodward testified there was no plan to close the course despite the president’s social media announcements.

Reyes noted the case started as a dispute about golf but has expanded to reconcile presidential assertions with sworn government testimony. The Justice Department has appealed her decision. A hearing is scheduled for Friday or Monday to determine how the case will proceed. The plaintiffs have not yet moved to block the closure and subsequent overhaul.