The Trump administration unveiled plans for a 75m triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery. Photo / Harrison Design
The Trump administration unveiled plans for a 75m triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery. Photo / Harrison Design
The Trump administration on Friday unveiled new renderings for President Donald Trump’s planned 75m triumphal arch, his most significant effort to remake Washington’s skyline, as officials begin the process of seeking formal approval for the controversial project.
The renderings prepared by Harrison Design feature a golden inscription reading “One NationUnder God” on the arch, which is topped with a winged Lady Liberty statue and flanked at its base by statues of four golden lions. The project is slated for Memorial Circle, a traffic roundabout near Arlington National Cemetery, which city planners have eyed for more than a century as the site of a potential monument.
The project is intended to commemorate the United States’ 250th anniversary. Built to Trump’s specifications, it would transform a small plot of land between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery into a dominant new monument. Architects and historic preservationists have warned that the planned arch, which would be more than twice the size of the roughly 30m Lincoln Memorial and tower over the nearby cemetery, would distort the intent of the existing memorials and obstruct pedestrians’ views.
The renderings were filed on Friday by the Interior Department with the Commission of Fine Arts, a panel of advisers on the city’s architectural matters that Trump has stocked with allies. The commission is set to review the White House’s proposal at a meeting on Thursday.
Friday was the first time the administration has formally filed plans for the arch, a project that Trump has spent months teasing on social media and in the Oval Office.
The arch, featuring a Lady Liberty statue, aims to commemorate the US' 250th anniversary. Photo / Harrison Design
The White House and Harrison Design did not immediately respond to questions about the project, including its planned cost. Trump and the White House have previously defended the arch’s planned height, which would surpass Paris’ Arc de Triomphe – which is 50m high – and other memorial arches around the world.
“I’d like it to be the biggest one of all,” Trump told reporters in January. “We’re the biggest, most powerful nation.”
Under the law, certain parts of the city – including Memorial Circle – are considered protected land, and monuments built there would require congressional authorisation. The circle sits narrowly inside the boundaries of Washington.
Military veterans and a historic preservationist sued the Trump administration in February, arguing that Trump’s planned arch would obstruct key views when visiting Arlington National Cemetery and interfere with the intent of nearby monuments. Public Citizen, a government watchdog organisation, is seeking to halt the project until the administration secures approval from Congress and federal review panels. Democrats joined the challenge last month.
Trump was dismissive of the legal challenge this week.
“You got to be kidding,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday, after being informed that military veterans were suing to stop the project. “I think it’s going very good, and our veterans are the ones that should like it.”
Trump has prioritised several Washington construction projects in his second term, but the projects have faced resistance. A federal judge last month halted Trump’s plan to build a US$400 million ($685.5m) White House ballroom, saying that the administration needed approval from Congress for that project.
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