A judge blocks the government's tree-clearing spree at a municipal D.C. golf course

Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition

The Trump administration abruptly cut down more than 400 trees at Washington, D.C.'s historic East Potomac Golf Links last weekend. A federal judge has ordered testimony from two high-level officials with the Interior Department; the judge plans to hold another hearing Oct. 19. Tyrone Turner/WAMU for NPR hide caption

A federal judge has temporarily barred the Trump administration from cutting down additional trees at a D.C. municipal golf course, the latest example of a court intervening in the government's efforts to reshape pieces of the nation's capital.

The long-simmering fight over East Potomac Golf Links — which President Trump wants to redevelop into a championship-level course — erupted over the weekend, after the administration cut down hundreds of trees with little notice.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes had ordered the administration in May to get court approval before cutting down more than 10 trees at the golf course. Officials notified the court just before 5 p.m. on Friday of their plan to remove "up to 529 trees" in phases starting on Saturday — and had razed at least 430 by the end of the day, prompting Reyes to call an emergency hearing on Monday.

Trump proposes Camp David-style presidential retreat at his private Florida golf club

"What has happened has cost the government all of its credibility with me in this case," Reyes said during the nearly four-hour hearing, held via videoconference.

Reyes ordered a short-term stop to the tree-clearings, which she extended on Tuesday through Oct. 26. She warned Monday that "if that order is violated by two seconds, there are going to be contempt proceedings."

Reyes also ordered top officials from the Department of Interior and the National Park Service to testify at a hearing next Monday, to shed more light on the government's motivations and the future of the historic course.

"The questions go to whether or not I've been lied to," Reyes said. "Whether I've been lied to in declarations about the plans, whether or not I've been lied to about the timing of things, and whether I've been lied to about what kind of notice the court was going to receive."

East Potomac has emerged as another flashpoint in Trump's unilateral quest to remake D.C., and it's the subject of a lawsuit by critics who fear it could go the way of the now-lost White House East Wing unless a court intervenes. The D.C. Preservation League, along with two concerned residents, sued the government in February over what it calls an unlawful takeover.

Trump aims to leave a physical legacy in D.C., bulldozing norms along the way