WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2026 — President Donald Trump attacked a federal judge on Monday morning. Hours earlier, she had refused a Justice Department request to disqualify her from the legal fight over renovations at the East Potomac Golf Course in Washington, D.C.

In a Truth Social post, Trump argued that the Interior Department has an “absolute right” to remake the public course. He called the judge, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, “a crazed lunatic” whose courthouse tapes, he claimed, would show she “may be insane.”

What the judge ruled

Stanley Woodward, the Justice Department’s third-ranking official, filed the recusal motion. He argued that Reyes holds a clear political bias against the administration. Reyes, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, denied the motion late Sunday in a 13-page opinion.

She wrote that it is “easy to weaponize selective quotations” in a baseless recusal motion. She said it is much harder to meet the legal standard once the full record is considered. In her view, the government did not come close to meeting it.

What set off the dispute

The motion followed an Oct. 12 hearing. Reyes angrily confronted government attorneys after the Interior Department removed hundreds of trees from the course over a holiday weekend. She had repeatedly asked the administration to give her advance notice of any significant changes while the case is pending. She has since barred further tree removal. The government has said the tree work was part of a 2019 plan to clear dead, dying and hazardous trees.

The Justice Department pointed to her heated remarks, and to her order that administration witnesses appear on a federal holiday, as evidence of bias. Reyes said the government left out context from the hearings.

The broader fight

The case was brought by the D.C. Preservation League and individual golfers. They argue that the plan to turn the 106-year-old public course into a championship-caliber venue is unlawful. On Sunday, Trump posted a redesign by architect Tom Fazio and said construction would begin Nov. 15 and take about 15 months.

Reyes has asked the government to clarify whether it has taken “final agency action” on the renovation. Woodward answered that it has not, because the Park Service has not finished its review and the plan can still change. He also argued that a redesign is not the kind of agency action the law covers.

Reyes scheduled an evidentiary hearing for Monday morning and ordered Woodward to appear. She also sought testimony from two senior administration officials, including an Interior appointee who oversees many of Trump’s Washington beautification projects. The administration is expected to oppose that. The hearing’s outcome was not available at the time of publication.

Source: https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-attacks-judge-rejected-dojs-push-disqualify-dc/story?id=137376088