A federal judge on Saturday ordered the National Park Service to keep Washington’s East Potomac Park accessible, delaying a planned shutdown as a challenge to President Donald Trump’s golf redevelopment proceeds.
U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes issued the temporary order Nov. 14. It bars closure of the golf course and other parkland south of Buckeye Drive SW during established daily hours through Nov. 28, unless the court changes the order. The area includes Ohio Drive SW, roads, paths, fishing areas, picnic spaces and the seawall promenade. The course may have routine temporary closures consistent with its historical practices, but the order does not require the government to provide golf operations.
The National Park Service had scheduled restrictions to begin at 9 p.m. EST Sunday, Nov. 15. The order allows closures only in the immediate area of active seawall repairs or where an articulated, imminent threat to public safety requires it. Any safety closure must be limited to the area, extent and duration reasonably necessary, and the government must notify the court and plaintiffs in writing within 24 hours.
The case was brought by the DC Preservation League and two local golfers. The agency cited the end of National Links Trust’s golf operations and safety concerns involving the course and seawall. A May 2026 assessment by the National Park Service listed 110 course deficiencies, with 69 rated “Critical” or “Urgent.”
Reyes said the agency’s stated safety and operator reasons served as a pretext for the broader shutdown. She found the plaintiffs likely to prevail on claims under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, and said required notice-and-comment rulemaking had not been completed. The order is preliminary and does not decide the lawsuit’s final merits. Reyes also found the agency ended the trust’s operations as part of carrying out Trump’s closure directive, then cited the lack of an operator as a reason to close the park.
The dispute follows Trump’s East Potomac redesign proposal. In an Oct. 18 post quoted in the court order, Trump projected that the new course would open in about 15 months. The National Park Service notice set no reopening date, and government counsel could not provide one at a Nov. 13 hearing. The order does not determine whether golf will be available while the case proceeds.
The plaintiffs must post a $1 bond by Friday, Nov. 20. The order remains in effect through Nov. 28 unless changed sooner, and the court set no date for a final ruling.
