Skirting the checks and balances within the government has finally caught up with Donald Trump and his golf ambitions
Last month, the removal of more than 400 trees at East Potomac Golf Links drew fury from Washington, D.C. residents, federal Judge Ana C. Reyes, golfers, and opponents alike.
Reyes intends to hold several government officials responsible for allegedly knowing that Trump’s changes exceed the planning declarations submitted to the court.
She suspects that Trump and his government allies misled her about the scope of the remodel.
This month, Reyes announced plans to appoint former U.S. attorney Jessie K. Liu as a “special master.”
The attorney chosen by Trump will examine whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) and a Department of the Interior (DOI) employee withheld details about the president’s golf course makeover.
Reyes’ oversight does not end there.
On Nov. 10, Reyes issued a preservation order demanding that the DOI “preserve documents and information” created or modified since August 1, 2025, related to Trump’s golf course project.
Those materials include “any redesign, renovation, or concept of a potential redesign or renovation of East Potomac Golf Course.”
Also included are declarations and government filings, the decision to close the park on Nov. 15, the tree management plan and landscape rehabilitation project documents, correspondence between DOI and National Park Service (NPS) employees, 15 of the president’s Truth Social posts from June to October 2026, and more.
The involved agencies have until Nov. 16 to distribute the order to custodians of the said documents. Those individuals must be identified by name, title, and the date they received the notice.
An X user tweeted, “We know they lied. That’s what this administration does!”
A second user wrote, “Meanwhile they’re busy shredding, shredding, shredding.”
The DOI unsuccessfully challenged the court’s October injunction.
In a Nov. 9 memorandum, Reyes said plans stated NPS officials would only manage the thinning of trees to restore the park view.
Instead, “DOI has been planning the opposite. Not to manage, but to destroy the historic East Potomac Golf Course,” Reyes wrote, noting that the goal is “to replace it with a championship course designed by Tom Fazio, just as Plaintiffs have asserted.”
“Feet to the fire! Don’t let him steam-roll the destruction. Reyes rocks!,” a reaction stated.
Whistleblowers tell CNN that DOI employees have been destroying documents ahead of Democrats’ takeover of Congress. The department said the rumors were “100 percent false.”
According to a spokesperson, “The Department follows all federal records management obligations as directed by the Department’s ethics officials.”
However, the probe into East Potomac Golf Course is just one construction site. Letters of document preservation include his other legacy projects across the capital.
Among Trump’s most-controversial renovations is the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and the expansive construction of the White House ballroom.
The center was closed in mid-September amid Trump’s fight to have it rebranded as the Trump-Kennedy Center. Opponents fear he is planning a demolition if he loses in court.
A judge temporarily halted above-ground construction of the annex, however, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling in August, allowing crews to continue building.
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