Judge Trump Called a 'Lunatic' Backs Off Demand After Seven-Hour Showdown With DOJ Over Golf Course Case

A federal judge embroiled in a fierce dispute with the Trump administration over the renovation of a federally owned golf course in Washington, D.C., reversed course on Monday during a nearly seven-hour hearing. Judge Ana Reyes backed away from her initial demand over the lawsuit concerning President Donald Trump's plans to completely renovate East Potomac Golf Links into a 'world-class, U.S. Open-caliber course.'

Reyes had invoked Rule 11, which requires attorneys to stand behind the factual basis of court filings and can subject them to sanctions for violations. She had demanded that the Justice Department attorneys arguing the case put their names alongside Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr.'s Sunday filing.

'Late breaking news,' Reyes said at the end of the hearing. 'I'm going to withdraw request that DOJ refile yesterday's brief with identification of who signed it. We've all got better things to spend our time on.'

The confrontation grew out of events earlier this month, when the National Park Service removed roughly 430 trees at the golf course over a weekend. The Interior Department said the tree removals were part of a years-old plan to restore the course's historic design and were unrelated to Trump's proposed overhaul.

Though the action did not violate a court order, it prompted Reyes to impose a temporary restraining order barring further tree removals. She was also described as 'screaming' at the administration attorneys during an October 12 hearing.

The hearing prompted Woodward to seek Reyes' removal from the case, accusing her of bias and 'open hostility' toward the Trump administration. Both Woodward and Trump have called for the release of the court's audio recordings of the hearings.

Hours before Monday's hearing, Trump dubbed Reyes a 'crazed lunatic' on Truth Social, writing that the court tapes would reveal her conduct and claiming the judge had blocked their use. Trump said his administration has a 'right' to turn the course into a 'great, safe, and prestigious' golf course and that work was scheduled to begin 'IMMEDIATELY.'

On Sunday, Trump made two other posts saying that Interior Department Secretary Doug Burgum and architect Tom Fazio had 'developed a plan' to revamp the East Potomac Golf Links into a 'World Class Championship Golf Course' and that work would begin November 15. Reyes said Trump's characterization conflicted with a previous filing that stated there was 'no agency action' in Trump's golf course plan, and she gave the Justice Department an 8 p.m. filing deadline.

The filing was signed only by Woodward, which immediately became a point of contention at the start of Monday's hearing. Reyes demanded that the attorneys 'raise your hand' if they would sign the briefing, which Woodward said was 'not an appropriate request.' She then invoked Rule 11 and ordered them to the podium to sign the filing.

But Woodward and the attorneys refused. Reyes initially set a 3 p.m. deadline but later extended it until noon Tuesday and offered to allow the attorneys' names to appear on the brief rather than requiring their signatures. In the end, she abandoned the demand completely.

Former federal prosecutor Abhishek Kambli wrote on X that high-level DOJ appointees sometimes sign contentious briefs as a matter of good leadership, so that any issues are directed at them rather than lower-level attorneys, adding that such a decision should not be something a judge inquires into. Rachel Boulvard of the Conservative Partnership Institute argued that DOJ line attorneys increasingly do not sign briefs because their bar licenses have been targeted for simply executing the department's work.

Reyes, appointed by President Joe Biden in 2023, previously faced a Justice Department judicial-misconduct complaint over her handling of litigation challenging Trump's restrictions on transgender individuals serving in the military. That complaint was later dismissed, with the D.C. Circuit's chief judge concluding that a recusal motion was the proper avenue for challenging her conduct. The golf course lawsuit was first filed in February; after Monday's events, where this legal battle goes next remains to be seen.