Judge extends order blocking Trump administration from clearing trees at D.C. golf course

The judge presiding over a court fight involving President Donald Trump’s plans to redo a public golf course in Washington, D.C., issued an order Tuesday temporarily barring the administration from knocking down more trees at the site.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes handed down the order a day after an emergency hearing in which she accused the government of engaging in deception to knock down more than 400 trees at the East Potomac Golf Links over the holiday weekend.

“The Court ORDERS that Defendants may not fell any further trees on the East Potomac Golf Course through Monday, October 26,” the judge wrote in a directive posted on the docket.

Reyes is overseeing a lawsuit filed by a preservation group and two Washington residents challenging Trump’s golf course renovation. Earlier this year, she denied the plaintiffs’ request for a restraining order in the case after administration lawyers assured her they would give her and the plaintiffs ample notice of any large-scale work being done on the course.

On Friday, attorneys for the Justice Department said in court papers filed shortly before 5 p.m. that the National Park Service would be removing roughly 500 trees from the course over the three-day…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business