On Friday, a federal judge ruled that she is appointing a Special Master to investigate whether or not Department of Justice and Department of Interior representatives "lied" to her about President Donald Trump's intentions regarding the East Potomac Golf Course. According to reporters, Judge Ana Reyes suspects that government attorneys "misrepresented" their case.
The case blew up in the administration's face because of Trump's own words. On Tuesday, Judge Reyes put attorneys on notice, warning that Trump's social media posts may have directly broken a court order. The case is the result of Trump’s effort to have the East Potomac Golf Course torn down and renovated, which preservation groups sued to block. While the court barred any action regarding the park pending its final decision, a social media post by Trump suggested that he was ignoring the order.
According to the order, "The Court takes judicial notice of President Donald J. Trump's Truth Social post at 11:37 p.m. on October 26, 2026, stating, 'We are closing the East Potomac Golf Course Site as scheduled on November 15th in order to renovate and rebuild for Competitive (with other such projects!), Safety, Modernization, and Aesthetic reasons.' Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward told the Court on October 19 that '[w]ith regard to the November 15th date... there is no plan to close the course.' The Court ORDERS Defendants to clarify, as part of their response to the Court's show-cause order from October 26, whether any plan exists to close East Potomac Golf Course on or around November 15, 2026. And, if so, how that can be reconciled with Associate AG Woodward's representation to the Court." Reporting on the matter, Politico Senior Legal Affairs Correspondent Kyle Cheney noted, "Looks like [Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward] will be back in court Friday or Monday as Judge Reyes demands to know who is correct."
Now the Friday hearing has come and gone, and it did not go in the president's favor. Should an investigation reveal that agency lawyers did indeed lie to the judge, some form of court sanction, fines or even jail time is possible. While the judge referenced a single post, Trump actually commented twice about the November 15 closing date twice, arguing that the "judge has absolutely no right to hold up this very important and beautiful Project," and adding, "To have to give advanced notices to a judge who has no expertise in Golf, Architecture, Landscaping, Construction or anything else having to do with building such a World Class Project, is not fair, appropriate or Constitutional." Judge Ana Reyes hit back with her own strong words, writing in her original opinion, "Rarely, if ever, has the United States Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting president. And yet, here we are."
