East Potomac Golf Links tree cutting, court fight and the Oct. 2026 desk-map photos

Case

In October 2026 the National Park Service cut hundreds of trees at East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C., while a lawsuit over President Trump's plan to rebuild the course was pending. The government says the work implemented a 2019 landscape report and is unrelated to the redesign; Judge Ana Reyes tentatively concluded officials rushed because Trump demanded haste. On Oct. 16-17, photos posted by ousted press secretary Katie Zacharia showed a blurred, then removed, map on Trump's desk that advocates say is East Potomac Park. Who directed the cutting remains unresolved.

Documented: the lawsuit and the tree cutting (Oct. 2026)
Trump announced in June 2026 that he wants to turn the public East Potomac Golf Course into a championship-level venue; a lawsuit over the renovation is before U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes.
Reyes twice declined to halt the renovations but required the government to notify the court before cutting more than 10 trees, moving large vehicles onto the green, or closing the course without public notice. By the government's count, 150 trees had already been removed by early October (77 called invasive, 73 dead, dying or hazardous).
On Friday, Oct. 9, the National Park Service told the court it would remove up to 529 trees, starting with 169 on Saturday and 90 more later. Superintendent Kevin Griess said no healthy contributing trees, including historic cherry trees, would be removed, and that the work was not part of any renovation or redesign and would proceed regardless of one.
The notice was filed minutes before close of business on the Friday before a holiday weekend. At least 400 trees were cut over that weekend; the government says 430, and the plaintiffs' lawyers said all 529 fell on Saturday, including healthy mature oaks and maples.
At a Monday hearing Reyes told Justice Department lawyers they had 'lost credibility' and pressed them on why the court and plaintiffs were told only on Friday and who gave the go-ahead. Griess told the court the cutting was ordered by Frank Lands, the Park Service's deputy director for operations.
Griess said the work was scheduled when the Park Service received roughly 20 to 50 temporary personnel able to do labor-intensive grounds work.
On Tuesday, Oct. 13, Reyes halted all tree cutting until Oct. 26. Based on limited information, she concluded officials raced to cut trees 'because President Trump demands haste on his redesign,' not because of the 2019 Cultural Landscape Report the government cites.
Raw Story reports that the Justice Department has since moved to have Reyes removed from the case.
The Park Service plans to begin soliciting bids to remake the course in January 2027.

Documented: the government's defense and the historical record
Interior and the Park Service say the cutting implements a seven-year-old (2019) Cultural Landscape Report to address tree overgrowth and restore the course's historic character, and is unrelated to Trump's redesign.
The historic design supports part of the government's argument: the National Park Service and the Cultural Landscape Foundation describe Walter Travis's original course as a traditional links-style design, and Golf.com reports it was mostly treeless.
Golf.com notes that designer Tom Fazio's preliminary plans for the renovated course look nothing like Travis's original design.

Documented: the Zacharia desk photos (Oct. 16-17)
Katie Zacharia lost her job as White House press secretary on Friday, Oct. 16, five days after starting, per CBS News as cited by Raw Story. That evening she posted a photo of herself beside Trump at the Resolute Desk.
On Saturday, Oct. 17 (3:38 PM, per the embedded post), Zacharia posted a second Oval Office photo showing her family with Trump at the desk. Raw Story reports the same stack of blue binders is on the desk but the map is no longer on top of it. Raw Story reports the White House has not explained what the map shows or why it is missing from the new photo.
The Washington Post reported that Zacharia posted two photos that appear to have been digitally modified to conceal an image on Trump's Oval Office desk. In the first, a blurred image sits atop a stack of blue guidebooks beside the president.
Post reporter Dan Diamond noted the judge had told the administration to explain who ordered the trees cut, and that officials have said the cutting is unrelated to Trump's interest in the park.

Documented: Trump's Oct. 18 announcement of the Fazio course plan
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Oct. 18 (embedded in Raw Story's report), Trump said Interior, under Secretary Doug Burgum and with architect Tom Fazio, has developed a plan for a 'World Class Championship Golf Course' on the East Potomac site, to be open to the public and able to host tournaments including the U.S. Open and the Ryder Cup.
The post calls the current course 'old, broken, dilapidated,' with 'falling, dangerous, and disease infested trees' and a collapsing seawall, says the course was originally 'famous for no trees,' and says restoration work on the Fazio design will begin Nov. 15, when the old course closes, with the new course opening in about 15 months.

Claimed
Aaron Fritschner, deputy chief of staff to Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), wrote that the blurred map is Hains Point and East Potomac Park, and that Buckeye Drive can be seen running across it when the photo is turned to Trump's view. AP Pentagon reporter Konstantin Toropin only called attention to the blurred map; Save East Po, the group fighting the overhaul, said the map is East Potomac Park. Commentator Travis Akers wrote that he believes it is, after comparing Google Maps and satellite imagery, having earlier said he was not 100% certain. The identification has not been confirmed by the White House or the court.
Telegraph correspondent Poppy Wood wrote that Zacharia 'appears to have Photoshopped the map out altogether' in the second photo; the account The Rubber Duck posted the two photos side by side. These are observers' characterizations, and no one has confirmed how either photo was edited.
Advocates told the Post the photo edits were meant to hide the map ahead of Monday's court hearing. No one has confirmed a motive.
Akers said the administration has argued in court documents that there is no 'final plan,' and that the map together with the tree removal suggests a plan directed by Trump. MeidasTouch said Zacharia 'may have just handed the federal judge evidence of exactly where the order came from.' These are commentators' characterizations; the court has made no such finding.
Raw Story says the image in Trump's Oct. 18 post bore a striking resemblance to the blurred map. The post's image, as embedded, is a watercolor-style layout of the course; whether it matches the desk map is Raw Story's characterization and has not been verified.
Charles Birnbaum, president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, said the tree removal should be subject to review under the National Historic Preservation Act. He is not a party to this lawsuit, and the court has not ruled on that question.

Inferred and open questions
If the blurred map is East Potomac Park, it would complicate the government's position that the cutting was routine and unrelated to Trump's redesign, as Diamond noted. That depends on the unconfirmed identification of the map; a map of the park on a president's desk is not itself evidence of who ordered the cutting.
Trump's Oct. 18 post describes the trees as hazardous and ties the course's condition to a Fazio design starting Nov. 15, while the Park Service told the court the tree work was independent of any redesign. Whether those statements conflict is for the court to weigh; the post does not say the trees were cut for the new design.
The timing (a filing minutes before close of business ahead of a holiday weekend) is documented; any intent behind it is an inference. The court's tentative view that officials rushed at Trump's demand is preliminary, and the government's explanation (temporary workforce availability) is on the record.
Open: whether the Oct. 9 notice satisfied Reyes's earlier requirements, who directed the cutting beyond Lands's order, and whether any expert assessment supported removing 430 to 529 trees at once. Reyes's order runs to Oct. 26; a hearing was set for Monday, Oct. 19.

Research notes
Draft Oct. 18, 2026. Update after the Oct. 19 hearing (who ordered the cutting, whether the map is addressed, ruling on DOJ's motion to remove Judge Reyes). To verify: Trump's Oct. 18 Truth Social post at the primary source (currently seen only as embedded in Raw Story), the 2019 Cultural Landscape Report text, the plaintiffs' complaint and which legal claims (e.g., National Historic Preservation Act) it invokes, and the Oct. 9 filing itself. The Washington Post piece is paywalled; its lede was confirmed through search snippets and Political Wire.

Note
The government says the tree removal is routine implementation of a 2019 Cultural Landscape Report and not part of the golf course redesign; the court's finding that officials rushed at Trump's demand is preliminary, and the identity of the blurred map is claimed by advocates, not confirmed.

Sources
[1] Associated Press (via WBTV): Federal judge orders Trump administration to halt work on historic DC golf course until Oct. 26 (https://www.wbtv.com/2026/10/14/federal-judge-orders-trump-administration-halt-work-historic-dc-golf-course-until-oct-26/) · 2026-10-14
[2] CBS News (via News9): Judge chastises Justice Department lawyers after hundreds of trees cut down at D.C. golf course (https://www.news9.com/national-politics-oklahoma/judge-chastises-justice-department-lawyers-after-hundreds-of-trees-cut-down-at-d-c-golf-course) · 2026-10-13
[3] Associated Press (via WSB-TV): Park service could remove more than 500 trees at historic golf course Trump wants to redesign (https://www.wsbtv.com/news/national/park-service-could/VM2IWN6HGA53LD6P5T4SDBP4F4/) · 2026-10-10
[4] CNN (via KEYT): Crews begin clearing 169 trees at DC golf course Trump plans to convert to championship course (https://keyt.com/?p=1487472) · 2026-10-10
[5] Golf.com: Judge enraged by Trump D.C. muni (https://golf.com/news/judge-enraged-by-trump-dc-muni/) · 2026-10-13
[6] The Cultural Landscape Foundation: East Potomac Park Golf Course (Cultural Landscape Inventory) (https://www.cultural-landscapes.org/east-potomac-park-golf-course)
[7] The Washington Post: Zacharia posts altered photos of Trump's Oval Office desk (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/10/17/zacharia-posts-photos-obscuring-what-appears-be-map-east-potomac-park/) · 2026-10-17
[8] Raw Story: Katie Zacharia's farewell photo 'inadvertently provided evidence' against Trump in court (https://www.rawstory.com/katie-zacharia-2678100105/) · 2026-10-17
[9] Raw Story: Trump appears to reveal mystery map that may have 'provided evidence' against him in court (https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2678102055/) · 2026-10-18
[10] NBC Washington: East Potomac Park: Judge allows continued tree work by Trump administration (https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/east-potomac-park-judge-allows-continued-tree-work-by-trump-administration/4149916/)
[11] Dan Diamond (Washington Post) on X, Oct. 17, 2026 (https://x.com/ddiamond/status/2111593233705046185) · 2026-10-17
[12] Washington Post (via Hawaii Tribune-Herald): More than 500 trees to be cut down at golf course that Trump wants to redo (https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/?p=379819) · 2026-10-10
[13] City Cast DC: East Potomac Park: 150 trees removed (https://dc.citycast.fm/news/east-potomac-park-150-trees-removed)
[14] Raw Story: Katie Zacharia's new photo backfires as cover-up claims mount: 'Why was the map erased?' (https://www.rawstory.com/katie-zacharia-2678101609/) · 2026-10-18

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