President Trump, seen touring the East Potomac Golf Links in late June, says his administration will appeal the judge's ruling and close the course for renovations next month. Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images

After weeks of tense hearings and late-night court filings, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from making any further alterations to East Potomac Park, the municipal D.C. golf course that the president wants to redevelop into a championship-level venue.

The long-simmering legal battle kicked into high gear in recent weeks, after the government cut down 430 trees on the golf course with less than a day's notice. That prompted a pair of lengthy court hearings that at times turned heated, with government officials repeatedly insisting that the tree-clearing was unrelated to the renovations President Trump had touted on social media.…