A judge is furious that on Friday at 4:55 p.m., President Donald Trump’s administration told a federal judge it would cut down more than 160 trees protected by a court order at Hains Point in East Potomac Park in Washington, D.C. There are now plans to remove more than 500 trees. By the middle of the hearing, it was discovered that 430 trees had been chopped down.
It’s just the latest in another example of the administration and the Justice Department refusing to follow judges’ orders.
The incident unfolded after a collection of historic cherry blossoms on the Potomac golf course was cut down. In 1910, Japan sent over 3,000 cherry blossoms to the United States as a gift. They were planted all over Washington, D.C., and have become one of the biggest tourist attractions in the spring.
The ones on the manmade island in the Potomac River were planted before the golf course was built in the early 1920s. However, the trees themselves were among the oldest surviving cherry blossoms gifted from Japan.
Trump tore down the trees in August to make way for his new golf course he intends to build on a manmade island in the Potomac River, the Washington Post reported.
The court demanded updates before anything was done. So, the administration did it at the last possible moment before the weekend and by Monday the trees were gone.
In court on Monday, Judge Ana Reyes was incensed, reporter Scott MacFarlane posted from the court.
“I don’t know how I could’ve made it clearer!” she shouted. “What has happened has cost the government all of its credibility!”
“At 4:55 pm on a Friday of a holiday weekend, the plaintiffs and I get (little) notice that hundreds of trees are going to be chopped down!” she continued.
“When did the government become aware the (the tree toppling) was going to happen?” she asked, according to MacFarlane.
The Trump administration’s lawyer said, “There are two parts to your question, Your Honor”
“No… there’s only one part!” she said
MacFarlane said, “The judge is screaming.”
She asked when they knew this would unfold, and they said on the 8th or 9th. She asked why it took them so long to notify her.
“We were waiting for details?” the administration lawyer said.
“Do you have email or a cellphone?” she asked, probing what prevented him from contacting the court.
MacFarlane explained, “Court rules prohibit me from sharing audio of this hearing. But I’ve never heard a judge scream at full voice at a lawyer before. Not like this. Trump administration lawyer is getting excoriated.”
When the administration revealed 430 trees had been removed, she began screaming again.
“In what universe did anyone in your office think that was acceptable?!” she asked.
Trump administration attempted to claim, “We did our best…”
But the judge interrupted, “No, you didn’t! You did your absolute worst!”
She said that no further work can move forward until 7 am tomorrow, and if that is violated by one second, she’ll initiate contempt proceedings.
The administration revealed 299 more trees are set to be chopped down. Total they will tear out 729 trees.
“The work is not routine maintenance, and therefore, for a designated property, they need to undertake Section 106,” Charles A. Birnbaum, president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, told the New York Times on Saturday.
Deputy director of the National Park Service, Frank Lands, was named as the person who ordered the tree removal to begin on Saturday.
She ordered him into the courtroom immediately. They’re now holding until he arrives. As they waited, she ordered Park Service supervisor Kevin Greiss to answer her questions and he confessed that “discussions began on Oct. 6 at 5:39 p.m.” about the trees.
According to MacFarlane, “she’s livid that the court and plaintiffs weren’t notified til PM on Oct. 9.”
Trump claimed that the work would begin on his new PGA-level golf course Sept. 1. Much of the debris from the East Wing of the White House was dumped onto the sinking island to be used for the course.
“An informal count Thursday found that more than 60 trees appeared to have been removed in recent weeks. Many were around the perimeter and parking lot, but others had been removed from playing corridors on the Blue, Red and White courses,” the Post reported.
At the time, the Interior Department spokesperson claimed, “Arborists are doing routine maintenance at East Potomac Park with selective removal of hazard trees, non-native invasive trees, and declining and dying trees that cannot be brought back to good health through any degree of intervention.”
That’s when a court intervened.
There were once over 1,400 Yoshino cherry trees in the area, the National Park Service said, in East Potomac Park.
Trump terminated the National Links Trust’s 50-year lease, then moved to direct renovations through the National Park Service and golf architect Tom Fazio. His golf course plan has faced a lawsuit and criticism that it could displace an affordable, accessible public facility, remove recreational areas and smaller beginner-friendly courses, and bypass required planning and environmental reviews. Trump has said he wants a “world-class” course as part of his D.C. renovation.