The National Park Service cut down trees on and around the East Potomac golf course.
Posted by The Lawfare Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 95%
The Lawfare PodcastSep 14, 2026
Multiple reliable outlets (AP, Washington Post, NBC, CNN, The Atlantic) report that National Park Service crews cut down hundreds of trees on and around the East Potomac golf course, with the largest wave on October 10, 2026.
What was said
… So, to back up, the purpose of this hearing was supposed to just be about scheduling, but then a few things happened. So, one thing that happened was the Supreme Court ruled in the ballroom case, and then the other thing that happened was the National Park Service started cutting down a bunch of trees on the golf course and around the golf course. I guess not really a bunch on at least one on and then a lot around on East Potomac. For those who are not Washingtonians, uh, you gotta understand, uh, these are old trees, um, and, uh, trees down in that part of town are kinda special. …
The Lawfare Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The Washington Post reports that NPS crews cut down more than 400 trees in two large swaths of the federally owned course in a matter of hours on October 10, with removals mapped across Zone A and Zone B.[2]
Supports. NBC News reports that the Trump administration removed hundreds of trees from the public golf course over the weekend, with 430 trees removed after notice of the work.[3]
Supports. CNN reports that Interior Department crews, with the National Park Service, began a new phase of removing trees from the East Potomac Golf Course on Saturday, October 10.[4]
Supports. A Detroit News report on a later federal court opinion confirms that trees were cut at East Potomac Park before the judge barred further cutting without a court order.[5]
Context. Snopes reported in September that an informal count found roughly 60 trees removed before the October work, so cutting began before the October 10 wave. The Interior Department called the removals routine maintenance, but the judge later called that rationale pretextual; this dispute concerns motive, not whether the cutting happened.[1][5]
Sources
5 sources: 1 fact-checker, 3 tier 2, 1 not rated
- 1Did Trump cut down dozens of cherry trees for DC golf course renovations?snopes.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2Satellite images reveal where Park Service removed trees on D ...washingtonpost.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 3Judge tears into Trump administration for felling trees on ...nbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 4Crews begin clearing 169 trees at DC golf course Trump plans ...cnn.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 5Judge halts tree removal, imposes new limits on Trump's ...detroitnews.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The government reported cutting down 150 trees in East Potomac Park, of which 77 were invasive and 77 were dead, dying, or hazardous.Mixed
- The Trump administration moved to cut down over 400 trees at a public golf course in Washington D.C. without notifying the court.Mixed
- There are approximately 3,800 trees in East Potomac Park.Mixed
- Judge Reyes requested that the government inform the court before cutting down more than 10 trees in East Potomac Park.True
- Testing of material from the East Wing dumped at the East Potomac Golf Course showed no presence of asbestos.True