Donald Trump is busy setting the world on fire, but his real concerns are remodeling the White Hiuse and the District of Columbia. He likes to defy environmental reviews and yo make irreversible changes.
One of his plans involves turning a public golf course in D.C. into a championship course. A federal judge ordered him not to make any changes without getting it cleared by her.
A “furious” federal judge excoriated the Trump administration Monday morning for cutting down hundreds of trees at East Potomac Golf Links, the historic course eyed for redevelopment by President Donald Trump, telling government lawyers they had cost their credibility by ignoring her repeated warnings to give notice before work continued.
Over the weekend, his team cut down 430 trees. Another 300 will be cut down. The judge is furious.
Trump thinks he is a king and doesn’t need permission. Fortunately for him, he’s surrounded by sycophants who do whatever he tells them.
Rick Maese of The Washington Post reported:
Government lawyers told U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes at an emergency hearing that approximately 430 trees were removed Saturday and that another 299 are still targeted for removal. Reyes ordered the government to stop cutting down trees until at least 2 p.m. Tuesday, by when she hopes to hear testimony from another administration official involved in the tree removal.
Reyes says she had been reluctant to issue a temporary restraining order in the case. But, she added, “I have no faith that the government isn’t going to cut them down unless there’s an order in place not to do so.”
Violating her order “by two seconds” would prompt contempt proceedings, the judge said.
“I am thoroughly unamused right now,” Reyes said as the hearing began. “I do not know how I could have made it any plainer. I did not want what happened to happen.”
At one point, Justice Department attorney Marissa Ann Piropato told Reyes that government lawyers “did our best” to keep the court apprised of any construction work at the course.
“No, you did not do your best,” Reyes responded, her voice rising. “You did your absolute worst.”
The hearing followed an emergency request filed late Sunday by preservationists seeking to stop the National Park Service from removing additional trees at the historic public golf course.
The D.C. Preservation League and two golfers allege that the administration is racing ahead with irreversible work while avoiding the environmental and historic-preservation reviews required for the president’s proposed transformation of East Potomac into a championship-level course.
This isn’t new for Trump.
“Aggressive Defiance of Local Zoning and Regulations: Throughout his career in New York, Atlantic City, and Palm Beach, Trump frequently clashed with local planning boards. He routinely sued municipalities over zoning restrictions, historic preservation laws, and building height limits, often pushing forward with unauthorized modifications and settling the resulting fines or legal disputes as a cost of doing business.”
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The 40 weeping willows outside the Kennedy Center were also tossed in the wood chipper, and last week in Arizona four ancient cottonwoods, one known as the grandmother tree that was 250 years old, were also killed to build the wall at the border. Cottonwoods are sacred to some indigenous people; the Maya believe the roots connect the underworld to the heavens via the trees’ crowns.
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