Trump ignoring a judge’s ruling again.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday that “restoration work will begin” on 15 November to a historic public golf course in Washington DC despite a federal judge’s court order to pause his plans over environmental and historic preservation concerns.
US district judge Ana Reyes had ruled earlier this year that the federal government must give notice before any substantive construction work on the East Potomac golf course could proceed, and last week issued an order halting the removal of trees at the site, which she called “inexcusable”.
Trump said Sunday in a post on Truth Social that work on the golf course would begin on 15 November and that it would reopen in about 15 months. He wrote that the facility would be transformed into “one of the Best and Most Spectacular Golf Courses anywhere in the World”. Trump did not acknowledge the legal fight in his post, which included an artist’s rendering for the course redesign.
The judge in the case took notice of Trump’s online message and ordered the government to notify her by 8pm ET on Sunday whether its position had changed from a court filing Friday that said “at most” Trump has given “preliminary thought” to the rebuilding plan and “there is no final agency action”.
He hates the golf course as it is because it’s public. Public is not glamorous! Public is not shiny gold! Public is yuck! Except of course when it’s a bunch of people cheering for Trump.
The renovation is among a number of projects Trump was pursuing to reshape the White House and other Washington landmarks. Many of his projects, including plans for a huge ballroom at the White House, the installation of his own name on the Kennedy Center and construction of a massive arch, have been challenged in courts.
The 106-year-old park and golf course, alone, has been the subject of many emergency hearings as the president has sought to renovate it. While it has been open to Washingtonians of all income levels, opponents of Trump’s plans to turn it into a high-end course have argued it will alter the character of the space and make it less affordable to people.
Right, so it will keep the ooky ordinary people out.
Reyes has also ordered key members of the Republican administration to testify on the recent tree-cutting and whether those actions are tied to the president’s plans for the historical public links.
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” and “open hostility” toward the Trump administration, according to court records. The plaintiffs in the case oppose the motion.
Give us a different judge who will give us the ruling we want. Or else.
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