A judicial activist with a track record of opposing the Trump administration was admittedly “furious” at the Justice Department during a courtroom proceeding.
If not the clear winner, leftist judges are unquestionably in contention for proving the biggest obstacle to President Donald Trump’s agenda. Some have earned a reputation as worse than others, and on Monday U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes of the District of Columbia piled fury atop a previous misconduct complaint when she unloaded on DOJ attorneys over felled trees.
Covering the courtroom drama as the Uruguay-born, Biden-appointed judge questioned the timing of a notice to cut down hundreds of trees to advance a revitalization project at the East Potomac Golf Links, MeidasTouch chief Washington correspondent Scott MacFarlane reacted, “Whoa. Fire from Judge Ana Reyes just now,” as he quoted, “I don’t know how I could’ve made it clearer!”
“What has happened has cost the government all of its credibility!” she went on before chiding in a tone described as “screaming,” “At 4:55pm on a Friday of a holiday weekend, the plaintiffs and I get (little) notice that hundreds of trees are going to be chopped down!”
In raised voice, Judge Reyes is blistering Trump Admin lawyers
“At 4:55pm on a Friday of a holiday weekend, the plaintiffs and I get (little) notice that hundreds of trees are going to be chopped down!”
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) October 12, 2026
In endeavoring to restore the golf course situated on the south side of the island where the Thomas Jefferson Memorial resides to its condition from the 1920s, 430 trees were felled Saturday with plans to take down another 299.
Monday’s courtroom drama was only the latest example of Reyes clashing with the administration. Previously, the judge who’d made thousands of dollars of donations to Democratic Party campaigns — including then-former Vice President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign — blocked the Department of Homeland Security from deporting Haitians by ending their temporary protected status.
She was also alleged to have “compromised the dignity” of a hearing on the ban of so-called “transgenders” from service in the military when she was said to have questioned a DOJ attorney on his religious views, prompting a complaint from the Justice Department on her alleged “hostile and egregious misconduct.”
During the hearing, Reyes accused the defendants of intentionally waiting until the last minute to notify the court about plans to take down trees after the decision had been made days earlier.
A previous hearing on the case found the judge expressing, “I am not the Lorax. I do not speak for the trees. I am a judge.” Though she insisted she did not want to issue a restraining order during that September hearing, Monday’s session included a temporary bar on continued tree removal.
Spinning the case as a contest against the creation of a “Trump golf course” where a golf course already exists, one-time ethics lawyer to then-President Barack Obama, Norm Eisen, shared the docket announcing the emergency hearing for Tuesday morning.
“Plaintiffs are likely to suffer immediate and irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief. The removal of hundreds of trees from East Potomac Golf Course is permanent, while the Government will not be prejudiced by a short delay given that weather might continue to prevent it from proceeding in any event,” read the order from Reyes.
BREAKING: the court paused the Trump admin tree removal at East Potomac Golf Links, where we are contesting dumping toxic East Wing debris & creating a Trump golf course
We raced to court with Democracy Forward & Lowell & Assoc, & filed for an emergency hearing–today at 10am! https://t.co/MjzDEZuO9S
— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) October 12, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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