An artist’s rendering of President Trump’s proposed arch.<\/div>\n
(U.S. Commission on Fine Arts via Reuters)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u201cThe one that people know mostly is the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, and we\u2019re going to top it by, I think, a lot,\u201d Trump said in December. \u201cThe only thing they have is history.\u201d<\/p>\n
The winning design by architect Nicolas Leo Charbonneau gained the president\u2019s attention \u201cbecause of its ornamentation,\u201d\u00a0according to the New York Times, defeating a \u201csmaller,\u00a0less decorative\u201d proposal. Trump has also undertaken a \u201cgoldening\u201d of the Oval Office since returning to the White House last January.<\/p>\n
When a\u00a0CBS reporter asked Trump last year who the monument was for, he pointed to himself and answered: \u201cMe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be beautiful,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Triumphal Arch would be built on Memorial Circle, a grassy roundabout near Arlington National Cemetery directly across the Arlington Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial.<\/p>\n
How do other triumphal arches compare in size?<\/h2>\n
According to the Times, \u201cancient civilizations often built grand arches to commemorate their military or civic achievements. The Romans decorated their cities with arches to celebrate imperial conquests like the sacking of Jerusalem. The French originally commissioned the Arc de Triomphe to symbolize Napoleon\u2019s military victories.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent decades, however, just a handful of countries have built triumphal arches, including Indonesia, North Korea and Iraq. Still, Washington remains \u201cthe only major Western capital without a monumental arch,\u201d according to a 2025 article by Catesby Leigh, an architecture critic who encouraged Trump to erect one of his own.<\/p>\n
If built as planned, the U.S. Triumphal Arch would supplant Mexico City’s 220-foot Monument to the Revolution as the largest structure of its kind. Pyongyang’s 197-foot Arch of Triumph would slip to third place.<\/p>\n
The 250-foot measurement was also chosen to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which the United States is celebrating this summer. In comparison, the Lincoln Memorial is 99 feet tall; the Washington Monument is 555 feet tall.<\/p>\n
Leigh originally proposed a temporary structure no taller than 60 feet that could be built in time for this summer\u2019s celebrations. \u201cAnd if the arch were considered to be of enduring value in its design, then it could be rebuilt in permanent form,\u201d Leigh told the Times.<\/p>\n
But the proposal then grew to 76 feet to symbolize the year of America\u2019s founding \u2014 before Trump insisted that it exceed the 164-foot Arc de Triomphe.<\/p>\n
At Thursday\u2019s Commission of Fine Arts meeting, vice chairman James C. McCrery II \u2014 who was also the original architect for Trump’s ballroom \u2014 objected to the statues on top of the arch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wonder if you need those up there,\u201d McCrery asked. Without the statues, the height of the structure would shrink to about 166 feet.<\/p>\n
When will the arch be built?<\/h2>\n
There\u2019s no chance the United States will have enough time to construct a massive classical arch before this year\u2019s big July Fourth celebrations. Instead, the administration \u201canticipates breaking ground on the site this summer with construction completed before the end of Mr. Trump\u2019s term,\u201d according to the Times.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0rendering of this summer\u2019s \u201cGreat American State Fair\u201d\u00a0released Thursday by the Freedom 250 organization, which is planning \u201cpresidential-level celebrations for our nation\u2019s 250th birthday,\u201d showed a smaller, possibly temporary version of the design at one end of the National Mall.<\/p>\n
How much will it cost (and who will pay for it)?<\/h2>\n
The administration has not released a budget or even a cost estimate for its arch.<\/p>\n
As with his White House ballroom, Trump has suggested that donors could pay for the project. But the latest\u00a0National Endowment for the Arts \u201cspend plan\u201d\u00a0shows that taxpayers are also set to chip in $2 million in special funds and up to $13 million to match any private donations.<\/p>\n
A White House official told the Times that \u201cthe cost of the arch was still being calculated but that it would likely be paid for through a mix of public and private money.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next? Any hurdles ahead?<\/h2>\n
The White House has said it will \u201cfollow all legal requirements\u201d to build the U.S. Triumphal Arch. After Thursday\u2019s approval by the Commission of Fine Arts, the proposal is expected to go to the National Capital Planning Commission (the federal government’s central planning agency for the Washington, D.C., region).<\/p>\n
But whether the plans go to Congress is another story. In October, Trump abruptly tore down the East Wing of the White House to make space for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom financed with at least $350 million from corporate donors and political allies. A federal judge has halted that project multiple times \u2014 including again on Thursday \u2014 because he says it exceeds what a president can change about a historic building like the White House without congressional approval.<\/p>\n
In February, a group of Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian sued to block Trump\u2019s arch project as well, arguing that \u201ccongressional approval is required for construction of symbolic and commemorative works in the Nation\u2019s capital\u201d and that a \u201chost of other statutes impose procedural requirements that must be satisfied before erecting a monument on Memorial Circle.\u201d They also claim Trump\u2019s arch would disrupt the sight line between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.<\/p>\n
According to CNN, the U.S. Triumphal Arch will soon face \u201cother more challenging reviews that require public input, including under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.<\/p>\n
As part of those reviews, \u201cstakeholders are expected to be consulted, including Arlington National Cemetery, the National Park Service and the DC State Historic Preservation Office,\u201d CNN reported.<\/p>\n
What supporters and critics are saying<\/h2>\n
This \u201cwill be the GREATEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL Triumphal Arch, anywhere in the World. This will be a wonderful addition to the Washington D.C. area for all Americans to enjoy for many decades to come!\u201d \u2014Trump,\u00a0on social media<\/p>\n
It \u201cwill be an architectural masterpiece to celebrate our history right here in Washington, D.C. \u2026 Great nations build beautiful structures that cultivate national pride and love of country, and this triumphal arc should be a project that all Americans of all political persuasions can support.\u201d \u2014Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cemetery is supposed to be doing the speaking. This arch is just a rude interruption. No matter what you may think of it aesthetically, it just is the wrong place for it.\u201d \u2014Calder Loth, architectural historian who is suing to block the project<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s way too big for that site.\u201d \u2014Catesby Leigh, the architecture critic who initially encouraged Trump to build an arch<\/p>\n
It \u201cwould be profoundly out of scale with its surroundings\u201d and \u201cappears to disregard established norms that prioritize harmony with existing structures, preservation of sight lines and respect for the symbolic hierarchy of the capitals and landmarks.\u201d \u2014an\u00a0anonymous public comment\u00a0read aloud at Thursday\u2019s Commission of Fine Arts meeting<\/p>\n
\u201cPermitting that Arch to be built without appropriate congressional authorization and review could lead to the unchecked proliferation of monuments, the erosion of public space, and serious constraints on future generations\u2019 ability to memorialize their own losses and achievements. \u2026 Washington D.C. is not the President\u2019s backyard to renovate, relandscape, and build in as he sees fit.\u201d \u2014Democratic members of Congress in a March\u00a0amicus brief filed in support of the lawsuit to block construction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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