In a Sunday morning post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said he is updating plans for his proposed triumphal arch to serve as a military complex at the 'strong request' of the US military and for 'national security purposes.' The structure, he wrote, will 'house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage.'
'There will be no facility like this anywhere in the World,' Trump wrote, adding that Washington, D.C., is 'the only one in the world that does not have a triumphal arch' among what he called 'the 59 top cities and Capitals,' without specifying which cities those were.
The arch — designed to stand 250 feet (76 metres) from its base to the top of a golden, winged Lady Liberty statue flanked by two gold eagles — would dwarf the nearby Lincoln Memorial and reach half the height of the Washington Monument. Construction was expected to begin this month on a site across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., just outside Arlington National Cemetery.
However, the project faces legal hurdles. A group of three veterans and an architectural historian has sued, arguing that the arch requires congressional approval. While the project has received early approval from the US Commission of Fine Arts — whose members were all appointed by Trump — it has not yet received final approval from the National Capital Area Planning Commission, which is expected to take up the matter again in the next few months.
Trump has been making parallel arguments for other projects reshaping the capital, including the White House ballroom, which he has also called a 'military complex' necessary for national security. Other initiatives include renaming and renovating the Kennedy Center, refurbishing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and rebuilding a golf course in East Potomac Park.