Judge demands Trump lawyers answer the big question: Is the president lying?

Justice Department lawyers have been ordered to clarify whether Donald Trump's social media posts about a historic golf course renovation in Washington can be taken literally.Judge Ana Reyes said Tuesday that the department should clarify "whether any plan exists to close East Potomac Golf Course on or around November 15, 2026.”She directed Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. to appear in court for a status hearing on Friday or Monday.Donald Trump’s social media posts on the closure and renovation of a historic golf course in the nation’s capital are putting Justice Department lawyers in an uncomfortable position (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)The order responded to a post Trump made late Monday on social media, in which he criticized Reyes' temporary injunction halting work at East Potomac Park.That injunction was issued Monday.It was prompted largely by Trump's earlier social media announcements that plans for the golf course were complete and construction would begin next month.Trump said the facility would be closed for 15 months.The course renovation project is part of Trump’s aggressive campaign to leave his personal imprint on Washington’s historic landscape (Getty)The following day he set the timetable to “immediately.”Reyes said: “Rarely, if ever, has the United States Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting president. Not to believe him that a cabinet secretary has ‘developed’ a federal land project. Not to believe him that the secretary’s agency will destroy a historic golf course already on the land. Not to believe him that ‘restoration work' will begin ’IMMEDIATELY!' Not to believe him that the course ‘will be closed’ for over a year. Not to believe what the president has repeatedly told the American public.“And yet, here we are.”The preliminary injunction now in force temporarily bars the government from removing or damaging any additional trees on the East Potomac Golf Course.While the lawsuit is active, the administration must give 10 days' written notice before making any “irreparable modification” to any “forms or features” of the course.Judge Ana Reyes said Tuesday that the department should clarify "whether any plan exists to close East Potomac Golf Course on or around November 15, 2026” (REUTERS)There are claims the work is causing ‘irreversible damage’The D.C. Preservation League and two golfers are challenging the project, claiming the work is inflicting irreversible damage.Critics say Trump's plan will make playing there unaffordable for the general public and destroy the site's other uses.At one hearing, the judge excoriated the government after workers cut down at least 400 trees over a holiday weekend with little notice to the plaintiffs.A follow-up hearing on Oct. 19 led to stunning exchanges.At that hearing, Woodward at one point protected a Justice Department lawyer during questioning when Reyes asked whom she should believe.Former President Barack Obama mocked Trump’s obsession with renovation projects during a Michigan rally this past weekend (Getty)“It’s difficult to put my colleague, a non-Senate-confirmed DOJ employee, in a position of contradicting the president,” Woodward said.The renovation project forms part of Trump's aggressive campaign to leave his personal imprint on Washington's historic landscape.Those plans include construction of a huge ballroom at the White House, a massive arch and the creation of a National Garden of American Heroes in West Potomac Park.The D.C. Preservation League is part of a coalition of organizations, including the Cultural Landscape Foundation and a D.C. resident, that has filed lawsuits challenging those plans.In several cases, judges have acted and issued injunctions or restraining orders because of the Trump administration's push to begin work despite the pending lawsuits.