‘I’m no Amy Poehler’: Judge declines to immediately stop Trump’s takeover of DC golf course

A federal judge has declined to immediately stop Donald Trump’s administration from closing East Potomac Golf Links, following a report that the president planned for major renovations at the Washington, D.C., golf course.

“I don’t want to be the overseer of Parks and Rec. I’m no Amy Poehler,” U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes said at a Monday hearing, according to multiple reports.

Reyes was referring to the fictional bureaucrat Leslie Knope, whom the actress played on the hit sitcom Parks and Recreation.

The D.C. judge, who former President Joe Biden appointed, allowed National Park Service officials to proceed with necessary maintenance on the golf course, but warned against any major changes without notice, The Washington Post reported.

She said the government did not formally indicate that it planned to close the course.

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The hearing came after the publication NOTUS reported Friday that the Trump administration planned to take over the golf course, starting with landscaping and tree-clearing Monday and then moving on to larger renovations.

The major changes weren’t supposed to start until the NPS approved a design and all legal compliance was met, according to NOTUS.

The DC Preservation League and two local golfers filed a lawsuit in February to stop the reported takeover, in which East Potomac Golf Links would turn into a championship-level course.

Democracy Forward, a legal organization that has challenged Trump’s policies in the past, filed an emergency motion on Sunday to block the administration from closing the course to begin renovations, according to The Washington Post.

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Will Bardwell, an attorney for the plaintiffs who works for Democracy Forward, told Reyes Monday that the Trump administration would use the planned maintenance “as an excuse to begin hardcore construction under the guise of taking down a dying tree,” The Hill reported.

But Reyes warned that if “bulldozers show up, we’re not doing a whole briefing schedule. I’m going to make people show up with documents pretty quickly.”

The Independent has reached out to the Department of the Interior for comment.

Trump, an avid golfer and former real estate mogul, has made it his personal mission to beautify the White House and the great D.C. area. Probably most notably, Trump is trying to push through his $400 million White House ballroom, which has also been tied up in court.

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