Washington D.C. remains divided over one of its beloved municipal golf courses

After several relatively quiet months, attention surrounding President Donald Trump’s building projects in Washington, D.C., has returned to one of the district’s municipal golf properties: East Potomac Golf Links. The administration’s official plans, however, remain unclear.

East Potomac Golf Links is a popular 36-hole property in the heart of Washington. Trump wants to renovate it into an 18-hole championship golf course. In late June, the president identified Sept. 1 as the official construction start date. That date has now passed, though, with little convincing evidence of major course alterations beyond the arrival of heavy machinery on-site.

More than 150 trees have been removed in recent weeks. The work was described as “routine maintenance” clearing invasive or dead trees, and more removals are expected. Several protests by local residents, not only golfers, have taken place in the Hains Point area, including another one last weekend.

Golfers have continued using the property in recent days, and operations have proceeded normally despite the promised construction date and occasional flights overhead by Marine One. The latest developments concerning the course have instead come primarily through the courts.

Since February, the D.C. Preservation League has been suing the U.S. Department of the Interior to halt the administration’s actions at East Potomac Park. The League alleges that those actions could change access to the man-made peninsula, the cost and variety of golf there, as well as other non-golf amenities such as a public bike and running path.

The League opposes changes made without complying with the National Historic Preservation Act, which, among other requirements, calls for a period of community engagement before plans move forward.

Judge Ana C. Reyes initially stayed the case, but recently challenged the Preservation League to amend and update its original complaint in light of developments at the property in recent months. Those developments include the Department of the Interior’s design announcement in May, Trump’s visit to the property with course designer Tom Fazio, Trump’s declaration that construction would begin Sept. 1 and Fazio’s own admissions to GOLF.com in mid-May that he and his team were investigating a wide range of alterations.

While the court awaits the amended complaint, the Department of the Interior’s latest filing brought other Washington building projects into the discussion. A filing Wednesday argued that the Supreme Court’s recent 5-4 decision allowing renovations to continue at the White House ballroom was sufficient precedent: anything happening at East Potomac, the department suggested, was incidental because there is no official, finalized course redesign plan.

The D.C. Preservation League immediately called that argument inapposite to the golf-course case, reiterating its belief that the Department of the Interior has already made a final decision and that implementation is underway.

Both sides appeared before Judge Reyes on Thursday. She reminded the parties that she is a judge, not The Lorax, the Dr. Seuss character who speaks for the trees. “I do not speak for the trees,” Reyes said. She added that she had received “countless emails and voicemails on this issue. People are pretty upset.”

Still, little progress was made during the 30-minute hearing. An amended complaint must be filed within the next nine days, after which the case will move forward.

Another Thursday therefore passed in the nation’s capital much like many previous days: photographers took pictures of tree stumps, golfers posted videos from the course and workers continued their work—this time apparently removing old fence posts, according to local photographer Andrew Leyden. Whether any of it marks the beginning of something larger will be decided later.