[link:
https://wtop.com/dc/2026/07/judge-wont-stop-east-potomac-plans-but-
shes-not-throwing-the-case-out-either/|Judge won’t stop East Potomac Golf Links plans, but she’s not throwing the case out]
Mike Murillo | mmurillo@wtop.com
July 2, 2026, 9:54 PM
A federal judge isn’t yet interfering with the Trump administration’s plans for East Potomac Golf Links, but she also isn’t ready to dismiss the lawsuit challenging the work. ... The case was filed by the D.C. Preservation League and two local golfers, who argue the administration is moving too quickly toward a major makeover of the historic public golf course without first going through the required review process.
During Thursday’s hearing, Judge Ana Reyes kept coming back to a Truth Social post President Donald Trump made after touring the course over the weekend with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and golf architect Tom Fazio. In that post, Trump said Fazio, who has designed several Trump golf courses, would redesign East Potomac and that work would begin Sept. 1.
“Either the President just pulled the date out of thin air and never heard from anybody about it, or never talked to anybody about it, and it’s, who knows what he was talking about. It’s either that, or there is a Sept. 1 date that means something,” Reyes said.
Government attorney Michael Robertson argued that no contracts have been signed with Fazio or anyone else and that any major renovation would still have to go through environmental reviews and other required steps. But when pressed, they didn’t dispute Trump’s public statement that work could begin Sept. 1. ... “I don’t know exactly where that came from your honor, but what I do know is NPS and Interior are now trying to meet that schedule,” Robertson said.
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Mike Murillo
Mike Murillo is a reporter and anchor at WTOP. Before joining WTOP in 2013, he worked in radio in Orlando, New York City and Philadelphia.
mmurillo@wtop.com
@MikeMurilloWTOP
mikemurilloWTOP.1035
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