Trump treated to new legal lashing by an Alanis Morissette-quoting judge

President Donald Trump is trying to remake Washington DC's historic East Potomac golf course in his image — and a judge appointed by President Joe Biden stood up to him on Thursday by quoting famous artists from Alanis Morissette to Dr. Seuss.

As Politico's Kyle Cheney posted on X on Thursday, Judge Ana Reyes started her court session quite colorfully.

"In the first 90 seconds of Judge Reyes' hearing on the East Potomac golf course, she has referenced "Alanis Morissette; A random caller demanding her removal from the bench; The Lorax; and George Washington chopping down a cherry tree."

The references to The Lorax, a Dr. Seuss character who famously claimed to speak for the trees, as well as the myth that Washington chopped down a cherry tree and then refused to lie about it when confronted, regard how Trump has cut down Washington DC's oldest cherry blossoms in order to make his proposed renovations to the East Potomac golf course. While Trump initially said he was going to make only modest renovations to the course (which trusts argue he has no legal authority to renovate whatsoever), a recent report by The Washington Post proved he is making far more drastic changes.

"The plans, visible in photographs taken during Trump's visit, seem to stretch the redesigned golf course across nearly the entire East Potomac peninsula, extending play to the shoreline," the Post's Rick Maese wrote. "The renderings do not appear to show several of the park's best-known public amenities, including the riverside bicycle trail, the miniature golf course and Washington’s oldest grove of cherry trees. The drawings offer the clearest glimpse yet of how the Trump administration wants to transform one of the nation's oldest municipal golf facilities into a championship-caliber venue capable of hosting the U.S. Open, the Ryder Cup and other major tournaments."

Rick Reilly, a sports journalist who famously wrote about how Trump notoriously cheats at golf and that this cheating epitomizes his larger approach to governing, recently denounced Trump's golf course renovations in vivid terms.

“Notice how Trump [screwed] up everything?” Reilly wrote. “Reflecting pool was fine. Now it's fenced off. Kennedy Center was fine. Now it's closed. WH was fine. Now it looks like a 99-cent Thai joint. Boats sailed thru Hormuz. Now Iran owns it. Golf was cool. Now there's a greasy orange splotch on it.”