A quiet public golf course on the Potomac River became the site of one of the angriest federal court hearings of the year this week, after National Park Service crews mowed down more than 400 trees in a single weekend to clear the way for President Trump's dream of a "championship-level" makeover.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes did not hide her fury. Over two hearings on Monday and Tuesday, she accused Justice Department lawyers of stonewalling her court and warned that contempt proceedings were next if anyone defied her order "by two seconds," according to ABC News. "I am beyond disappointed in the government right now," Reyes told the government's attorney. "I wanted you all to be better than you have been."

430 Trees in a Weekend

The National Park Service notified the DC Preservation League of the plan at 4:55 p.m. the Friday before Columbus Day weekend, then began cutting the next morning, per The Philadelphia Inquirer. By the time the preservation group scrambled to court on Sunday, Justice Department attorney Marissa Piropato acknowledged, 430 trees at East Potomac Golf Links were already gone, with "hundreds more" planned.

"YOU DID NOT DO YOUR BEST! YOU DID YOUR ABSOLUTE WORST!"

Reyes, appearing remotely, grilled National Park Service official Kevin Griess, who testified the cutting plan was finalized just a week earlier, on October 5, and that he'd gotten sign-off from a deputy park service director over the weekend. That official, in turn, said he'd coordinated with Interior Department deputy chief of staff Gregory Wischer — testimony the judge said she needed to determine "whether or not I've been lied to," since she'd explicitly ordered advance notice of any major tree removal back in May.

On Tuesday, Reyes granted a temporary restraining order blocking any further tree removal at the course through October 26, and required three business days' written notice before any other irreversible changes, according to the Detroit News. The DC Preservation League and two local golfers, who sued back in February, must now file for a longer-term preliminary injunction, with a follow-up hearing set for Monday, when Wischer and acting Park Service director Jessica Bowron are expected to testify.

The government maintains the removals stem from a 2019 cultural-landscape study recommending the course be thinned and restored to its historic "links-style" character — and insists the project isn't simply a rush job to please the president. But Reyes wasn't buying the distinction: the Inquirer reported she rejected the government's argument that the cutting was unrelated to Trump's redevelopment plan. Trump has said he wants the public course rebuilt into "one of the Greatest Golf Courses anywhere in the World," open to ordinary golfers, through a public-private partnership — a vision now on hold while Reyes decides how much of the 529-tree removal plan, if any, survives.