The Trump administration has removed 40 weeping willow trees that lined both sides of the embattled John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center.

Users on X were outraged by the move as the trees were planted along two sides of the center to symbolize the nation’s mourning after the death of former President John F. Kennedy. “The weeping willows at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts have been reduced to stumps,” the user on X wrote.

“They symbolized the mourning of a nation for President Kennedy following his assassination in 1963,” it added. “The administration is claiming the roots were bad, but we know the real reason.” It comes after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accidentally humiliated Trump as critics asked about his ‘diaper’.

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The Irish Star reached out to the center and the White House for comment. One user claimed that the Kennedy Center leadership said that the trees were “largely decaying and were removed for safety and maintenance reasons.”

Users on X were outraged by the president’s brazen move. “The cruelty is astonishing!” one person wrote.

One person suggested that those who performed the cutting should go to jail. It’s currently unclear why the removal of the trees, which happened last October, is gaining traction again.

Tree removal

The disappearance of the weeping willows comes after the president quietly removed several historic trees in Washington, D.C., to make way for golf course renovation. According to a Washington Post report, the president cleared the trees from the East Potomac Golf Links before permission was granted.The report said that multiple trees had been coming down for weeks leading up to the September 1 start date announced by the president. As of August 27th, the administration had not yet released any design plans, construction schedule, or budget for the golf course. Officials have also not said whether the park would be closed during the renovations.

According to an informal count, many of the trees taken down include historic cherry trees and sycamores. The Department of the Interior stated that the trees were removed as part of routine maintenance, citing the need for golfers to see and not be connected to the renovation.

“Arborists are doing routine maintenance at East Potomac Park with selective removal of hazard trees, non-native invasive trees, and declining and dying trees that cannot be brought back to good health through any degree of intervention,” a spokesperson for the department said. “Trees throughout the park are regularly monitored for potential safety impacts to visitors, and when a tree is determined to be dying, declining, or hazardous, our arborists may make the decision to remove it.”

However, the removal was challenged by preservationists, who claimed that the Trump administration violated an 1897 congressional act establishing East Potomac Park for the “recreation and pleasure of the people.” Back in May, U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes declined to stop the Trump administration’s removal of the trees; however, she did require lawyers for the president to provide advance notice of when it would take place, and they removed more than 10 trees.

The outlet reported that Reyes’ direction was given orally and was not included in the formal written order. Sources told The Washington Post that the government was not notified about the recent work.

A court filing on Friday by the Justice Department stated, “no final agency action has occurred” in the project and that “multiple public-facing steps” would happen before any redesign took place. Lawyers for preservationists pushed back, citing a government attorney who had told the court the administration was “trying to meet” a September construction date.

Trump had previously posted about the construction on Truth Social on June 28. In the post, the president whined about the various states of monuments and how some had be vandalized. “Most importantly on today’s visit, however, was the Secretary of the Interior, and his people, together with me and my staff, studying the dilapidated, worn out, and very dangerous and outdated Golf Course known as East Potomac Golf Links,” Trump wrote.

“Tom Fazio, the Great Golf Course Architect, and his son, Gavin, participated on the tour with us, whereupon it was determined that, on this fantastic site, with water and unparalleled views of D.C.’s Monuments, we will build one of the Greatest Golf Courses anywhere in the World which, importantly, will also be made available to the Public,” he added. “When completed, this Course will have the ability to host Major Golf Tournaments, including The U.S. Open, The Ryder Cup, The PGA Championship, and other top PGA Tour events.”

Trump slammed the state of trees as being “badly damaged from years of neglect, putting people in great danger from falling branches, and the trees falling themselves.” The president also added that “the sprinkler system is gone, there is no filtration, and the remaining sprinklers are incapable of even doing 10% of what is needed. The grass is largely dead, the greens are virtually unplayable, and the Course is in very poor general condition.”