WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Monday that his administration would begin renovation work immediately on a historic Washington golf course that a federal judge had ordered could not proceed without prior notification to the court.
The renovation work, which Trump said a day earlier would start next month, has become the subject of a lawsuit over environmental and historic preservation concerns.
In a Monday morning post on Truth Social, Trump blasted the judge as "a crazed lunatic", called the court case "ridiculous" and declared that his administration had "an absolute right" to proceed.
"The experts at 'Interior' are allowed to do this First Class renovation 'as of right.' They do not need an approval. Work is scheduled to begin IMMEDIATELY!" he wrote.
It was unclear how the judge would respond.
The renovation is among multiple projects Trump is pursuing to reshape the White House and other Washington landmarks.
US District Judge Ana Reyes ruled earlier this year that the government must give notice before any substantive construction work on the golf course could proceed. Last week, she issued an order halting the removal of trees at the site, which she called "inexcusable".
In a post on Sunday, Trump said work on the East Potomac Golf Links would begin on November 15 and that the course would reopen in about 15 months.
Earlier this year, he said work would begin in September.
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Later on Sunday, Reyes ordered the Trump administration to explain whether it maintained its position, argued last week, that there was "no final agency action" regarding the course and that, at most, "the President has given preliminary thought" to the renovations.
Responding to the judge's order, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward wrote in a filing that any redesign of the golf course was not an "agency action".
"Just as a decision to redesign all the art exhibits in a Smithsonian Museum would not be agency action, neither would a decision to redesign a golf course, or to trim trees, replace fences, expand the fairways, or mow the lawn," Woodward wrote.
The DC Preservation League filed a lawsuit in February to halt the administration's takeover of the golf course, alleging that it would violate environmental laws and "irreparably destroy a priceless piece of American history".
In an Oct 9 court filing, the Trump administration had asked Reyes to dismiss the litigation, saying it was premature because the "proposed project remains at an early and conceptual stage".
The next day, however, the government removed about 500 trees from the site, saying the work would improve safety at the park, restore its original design and form part of a 2019 plan that predated Trump's ambitions for the course. Reyes ordered the removals to stop.
On Friday, the government filed a motion to disqualify Reyes and transfer the case to another district judge, saying her actions had shown "deep-seated and unequivocal antipathy toward the Trump Administration", according to court records.
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