Update: Judge bars Trump from closing East Potomac golf course Sunday, order runs to November 28

A federal judge on Saturday, November 14, ordered the government not to close East Potomac Park or its public golf course, hours before a planned 15-month closure was due to start on Sunday, November 15. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued a temporary restraining order that runs through November 28 or until she says otherwise, according to CNBC. The BBC reports the same order. It follows the preliminary injunction we covered on October 28: Judge Ana Reyes blocks Trump's DC golf overhaul after 430 trees were cleared.

What the order says, and what it does not

• It bars the closure. CNBC quotes the order as enjoining the government "from closing East Potomac Park and the East Potomac Golf Course during the daily hours in which they were open as of November 14, 2026."
• It does not order upkeep. The same passage says it does not require the government "to undertake any active management of either."
• Repairs are still allowed. The government remains free to repair any part of the park and course, with the notice required by the existing preliminary injunction.
• It is short. The order is in effect through November 28, 2026, or further order of the court, whichever comes first. The BBC describes the decision as 30 pages.

Why the judge ruled this way

According to the BBC, Reyes wrote that the administration's reasons for the closure were pretextual and that it had violated at least two federal laws "to meet an arbitrary deadline." She wrote that the government "proposes to close a historic park, daily enjoyed by Washingtonians of all stripes, indefinitely," and said it had not plausibly identified any harm from an order that preserves the status quo.

CNBC reports that the president's own social media posts weighed heavily. Trump wrote on October 26 that the site would close on November 15 to be renovated and rebuilt. Reyes wrote that the posts "indicate that the Washington National Plan is final and that NPS will close the Park to implement it." At Friday's five-hour hearing, a Justice Department lawyer argued the park was being closed for safety reasons and that the operator's lease with the government, held by National Links Trust, ends Sunday. Reyes said safety had not been part of the discussion for months and that ending the lease felt more like a pretext than a cause, CNBC reports.

What each side says

The Justice Department said in a statement that the judge acknowledged the National Park Service can limit access where the public is at risk of harm, and that "nothing in the Court's order precludes planning for the development of a world class golf course to continue." Trump said in a Saturday post, before the ruling, that Reyes "doesn't want us to quickly and inexpensively fix up the Course," and promised a 50% discount for people who live in the Washington area. Catherine Carroll of Democracy Forward, which represents the plaintiffs (the DC Preservation League and two local golfers), called the project one of the president's "vanity projects" and welcomed the ruling.

The court fight is widening

CNBC reports two other threads. Reyes announced last week that she plans to name Jessie Liu, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, to examine whether Interior Department and National Park Service officials, and Justice Department lawyers, broke ethics rules or misled the court. The Justice Department has also asked that she be removed from the case, citing what it calls her "egregious behavior." She has not stepped aside. Separately, a different judge recently ordered a 14-day delay on work for a planned memorial arch in the capital, per CNBC.

What it means for golfers and the project

For anyone planning a round or a run in the park, the order stops a closure; it does not guarantee staffing, services or a normal schedule, and we could not confirm from the sources above what operating hours or tee times apply after the lease date. Check the National Park Service and course operator before driving out.

For the project, the practical effect is a two-week pause on the construction start date, not a verdict. A TRO can be extended, replaced by a longer injunction or appealed, and the government has already said it plans to keep designing the course. The next dated marker is November 28, when the order lapses unless the court acts first.

Sources: CNBC, November 15, 2026; BBC News, November 15, 2026. Quotes from the court order are as reported by those outlets; we have not opened the order itself. Details may change as the case proceeds. This is news reporting, not legal advice.