U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued the temporary restraining order just a day before the course was set to close for 15 months. Trump had announced the closure would proceed on Sunday despite a lawsuit filed in February by the DC Preservation League and two local golfers.

The plaintiffs argue the redevelopment would fundamentally alter the character of the accessible, affordable course and make it unaffordable for many residents. They sought the stop-work order, warning that closing the course and beginning construction would "irreparably injure plaintiffs and the public interest."

Reyes' decision was heavily influenced by Trump's own social media posts last month. On October 26, the president wrote that "We are closing the East Potomac Golf Course Site as scheduled on November 15th in order to renovate and rebuild for Competitive (with other such projects!), Safety, Modernization, and Aesthetic reasons." He added that the goal was to create "a World Championship Public Facility."

In her ruling, Reyes noted that Trump's posts presented a problem for the government. "They indicate that the Washington National Plan is final and that NPS will close the Park to implement it," she wrote. "Both points favor granting Plaintiffs' motion for another temporary restraining order."

The order "ENJOINS 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," Reyes wrote. It does not require the government to undertake active management of the park, and it allows repairs to continue under the existing preliminary injunction. The order remains in effect through November 28, 2026, or until further order from the court.

The Justice Department said in a statement that the judge acknowledged the National Park Service can limit access to its facilities where the public is at risk of harm. "Nothing in the Court's order precludes planning for the development of a world class golf course to continue," the department said. "The Department of Justice will always vociferously defend the Trump Administration's agenda in court."

Catherine Carroll, a senior legal adviser at Democracy Forward, which represents the plaintiffs, praised the ruling. "We are grateful that once again, a court has intervened to prevent irreparable harm caused by the Trump-Vance administration's pursuit of another one of the president's vanity projects," she said. "The administration's inexplicable drive to destroy East Potomac Park would have taken away a treasured park that could never be replaced."

The park's redevelopment is one of several projects Trump has championed to remake the nation's capital, including a large memorial arch, a White House ballroom and changes to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

During a five-hour hearing on Friday, Reyes signaled she was likely to issue some stoppage. Justice Department lawyer Adam Gustafson argued that the entire East Potomac Park — which includes three golf courses, a miniature course, bike lanes and other recreational areas — was being closed for safety reasons. He also noted that the lease between the government and the current operator, National Links Trust, was ending Sunday.

Reyes pointed out that safety had not been part of the discussion over the closure for months and that ending the lease felt more like a pretext for the closure than its cause. The course is about 2 miles from the White House.

Even before the order, Trump lashed out on social media Saturday, contending that Reyes "doesn't want us to quickly and inexpensively fix up the Course which is, also, very dangerous." He said Washington-area residents would receive a 50% discount on "any and all Rates charged" and that the redevelopment would "evolve into something very special, something which the Judge will be able to take great pride in seeing!"

The ruling is the latest in a series of court actions challenging Trump's construction projects, often issued just hours before work was set to begin. A different judge recently ordered a 14-day delay on work for the memorial arch shortly after a planning commission stacked with Trump appointees approved the project.

Reyes, nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, had for months been reluctant to grant work stoppages. Her reluctance ended in October, spurred in part by a tree-cutting spree by the administration over a holiday weekend with little notification to the court or plaintiffs. Officials said the tree work was part of a 2019 plan, but the judge confronted the administration over what she portrayed as deceitful actions regarding its intentions for the project.

Reyes has repeatedly expressed frustration over the minute planning details she has been asked to adjudicate, including the tree cutting at the 106-year-old park. The Justice Department filed a request that she be removed from the case, citing what it called her "egregious behavior" and questioning her impartiality. Reyes has not recused herself.

The restraining order was one of two issues Reyes addressed during Friday's hearing. She also announced plans to appoint Jessie Liu, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, to examine whether officials with the Interior Department, the National Park Service and Justice Department attorneys violated ethics rules or misled the court during the case.