WASHINGTON — A federal judge Saturday blocked the planned Nov. 15 closure of East Potomac Park in a temporary restraining order, finding the government’s safety and operator reasons were pretextual.
U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes granted the motion filed by the DC Preservation League and other plaintiffs. The order bars the government from closing East Potomac Park and the East Potomac Golf Course during the daily hours they were open as of Nov. 14, 2026.
The closure would have covered all parkland and public-use facilities south of Buckeye Drive SW. It included miles of paved roadway, trails and multi-use paths, fishing areas, the Hains Point picnic areas and playgrounds, a miniature golf course and three other golf courses, the seawall promenade, and the East Potomac Dock and Wharf Jitney.
The order does not require the government to actively manage the park or the course. Reyes wrote that the government also remains free to conduct repairs on any part of either, with any notice required by the existing preliminary injunction.
Closure Tied to the Fazio Design
President Donald Trump directed the closure on Oct. 18 and again on Oct. 26, according to the order. On Oct. 28, the Department of the Interior told the court it planned to shut the park south of Buckeye Drive on Nov. 15, “consistent with the President’s directive.”
Trump wrote on Oct. 18 that restoration work would begin on the Fazio Design on Nov. 15, when the old course would close to play. He said the new course would open in approximately 15 months.
In a Truth Social post on Oct. 26, about three hours after Reyes issued a preliminary injunction against tree removal, Trump wrote, “We are closing the East Potomac Golf Course Site as scheduled on November 15th.” He called the project a world championship public facility capable of holding major events such as the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup.
On Oct. 30, the Park Service submitted a concept plan for the redesigned East Potomac Golf Links to the National Capital Planning Commission. A concept plan was presented to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts on Nov. 3. The visual concepts were identical to the Fazio Design Trump shared on Oct. 18, Reyes said.
Why the Court Rejected the Stated Reasons
The Record of Determination was published on the evening of Nov. 12. There is no directive from Trump in this document.
It referred instead to what will happen after National Links Trust ceases its operation. These included unsafe access, a growing list of safety issues in the course buildings and on the grounds, and the deteriorated condition of the seawall and walkways. Closure will continue until modified or rescinded by the superintendent, the document stated.
This means, Reyes concluded, that the cause-and-effect relationship was reversed. The Park Service itself fixed Nov. 15 as the deadline for National Links Trust’s work. Furthermore, the government acknowledged it made this decision in part because Trump wanted the park closed.
As far as the safety situation is concerned, an inspection conducted in May 2026 revealed 110 deficiencies on the course, 69 of which were marked as critical or urgent. Playing continued normally from that time on, and golfers completed more than 30,000 rounds. The government could not cite a single new safety problem discovered since May that would require closing the park by Nov. 15.
The issue of the seawall is quite a different story. The whole perimeter of the seawall had been declared a safety hazard since 2019, Reyes pointed out. Prior to the present situation, the agency dealt with it by putting fences around unsafe areas but kept the park open.
Three days prior to the closure decision, more than 30,000 marathon runners crossed this very perimeter running the Marine Corps Marathon with the Park Service’s consent, she noted.
Likely Violations of NEPA and the APA
On the law, Reyes sided with the plaintiffs on two statutes, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. Both claims, she found, were likely to succeed.
There is no environmental assessment and no environmental impact statement for the Washington National Plan, according to the order. The closure of the park is one of the steps taken in carrying out that plan. Treating it as a separate project, with a separate justification, Reyes found, is likely to fail.
On the APA claim, the court found the Park Service was likely required to use notice-and-comment rulemaking before closing the park. Those rules require rulemaking for a closure that significantly alters public use, harms natural, aesthetic, scenic or cultural values, or is highly controversial.
No such rulemaking occurred. The explanation also likely made the closure arbitrary and capricious, Reyes found, because the agency never adequately weighed narrower choices. Among them: extend the operator’s lease, find a new operator, run the course itself, or close only the areas around seawall work.
Reyes found an indefinite closure would irreparably harm the plaintiffs, who use the park regularly for recreation. The court also found the government had not plausibly identified harm it would suffer from an order preserving the status quo.
What the Order Requires
The golf course and all other parts of the park south of Buckeye Drive SW, including Ohio Drive SW, must remain open to the public. Exceptions are allowed only for routine, temporary closures consistent with past practice, for areas in the immediate vicinity of active seawall repair, and for articulated, imminent threats to public safety.
If an imminent threat requires a closure or restriction, the government may act at once in the area around the hazard. It must then give written notice to the court and the plaintiffs within 24 hours, with a description of the threat, the scope and duration, and a sworn declaration from a senior Park Service employee.
Reyes also wrote that the government cannot use the absence of golf operations as a reason to exclude the public from the course. Whether and how it operates the course for play, or contracts with a concessioner to do so, remains in its discretion.
The government must distribute the order by noon on Nov. 15 to all Interior and Park Service employees, officers, agents and contractors likely to be affected by it.
The restraining order remains in effect through Nov. 28, 2026, or until further order of the court, whichever comes first. The Oct. 26 preliminary injunction remains in effect, and the plaintiffs must post a $1 bond by Nov. 20.