The Trump administration has submitted detailed architectural plans for a proposed 250-foot triumphal arch at Memorial Circle, drawing strong pushback from Arlington’s congressman.
The 12-page filing, prepared by Harrison Design and submitted by the Department of the Interior, was posted today (Friday) to the website of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts ahead of the panel’s meeting next Wednesday. It marks the first time the administration has formally filed plans for the project, which Trump has spent months teasing on social media and in the Oval Office, according to the Washington Post.
The renderings show a massive neoclassical stone arch topped with a 60-foot gilded statue of a winged figure — which Trump has called Lady Liberty — flanked by two smaller golden eagles. The inscription “One Nation Under God” appears in gold across the front, with “Liberty and Justice for All” on the opposite side. Four golden lions sit at each corner of the statue’s base.
The arch’s main opening would stand 110 feet tall and 55 feet wide, according to the elevation drawings. The overall structure — 166 feet to the roofline, plus a 24-foot pedestal and the 60-foot sculpture — would reach a total height of 250 feet, one foot for each year of American independence.
That would make it more than twice as tall as the roughly 100-foot Lincoln Memorial across the river. Floor plans show a main level, an upper deck and a viewing deck at the top.
The site plan places the arch in the center of Memorial Circle, with Washington Blvd passing on either side. Multiple renderings depict the arch as seen from Arlington Memorial Bridge looking west toward the cemetery and from an aerial perspective looking east toward the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) blasted the newly released plans and promised to make sure the monument never comes to fruition.
“While Americans worry about skyrocketing costs and another endless war, President Trump is focused on a taxpayer-funded vanity project that would choke traffic, block our skyline, and tower over sacred ground where those who served our nation are buried, including my own parents and sister,” Beyer said on social media Friday afternoon.
“This isn’t about America’s 250th or honoring our veterans,” Beyer added. “It’s about Donald Trump’s ego — and we’re going to stop it.”
Trump first showed off models of the proposed arch at a donor dinner in October, displaying three different-sized 3D models and acknowledging the largest was his favorite. When CBS News asked who the arch would be for, Trump pointed at himself and said, “Me.”
The traffic circle is on federal land technically located in D.C., but it sits just across the Boundary Channel from Arlington National Cemetery and the Arlington Cemetery Metro station. The National Park Service estimated in 2018 that about 62,000 vehicles crossed the bridge every day. The Arlington side of the bridge sees an average of about 2,700 pedestrians and bicyclists each day, according to county data, and the area is part of the route for popular races like the Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run and the St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon.
Military veterans and a historic preservationist sued the Trump administration in February to halt the project, arguing it would obstruct key views when visiting Arlington National Cemetery and had not received proper approval from Congress or federal review panels. Democrats joined the challenge last month, according to the Washington Post.
Trump was dismissive of the legal challenge this week.
“You got to be kidding,” he told reporters at the White House on Monday after being informed of the lawsuit, according to the Post. “I think it’s going very good, and our veterans are the ones that should like it.”
Under the law, Memorial Circle is considered protected land, and monuments built there would require congressional authorization, the Post reported. The White House is also seeking $15 million from the National Endowment for the Arts to help fund the arch, according to NOTUS, despite earlier statements that it would be fully privately funded.
The Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were all appointed by Trump after he fired the previous commissioners last October, unanimously approved the White House ballroom project at its February meeting. Unlike the ballroom, the arch is not on White House grounds and is not exempt from historic preservation review. A federal judge halted the ballroom project last month unless approved by Congress, and the administration has appealed.
Harrison Design, an architectural firm with an office in D.C., has been working on the arch design since at least last fall. The architect on the project is Nicolas Leo Charbonneau, a partner at the firm.
The CFA meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. next Wednesday in D.C.
