Excavation work is set to start over the next two weeks at Memorial Circle, where the Trump administration plans to build a towering, gilded arch between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
The administration announced the timeline Thursday. The project is facing a lawsuit, and critics say it will disrupt historic sightlines in Washington, D.C.
Survey and testing work at the site began in May.
“This will be one of the Great Pieces of American Architecture,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote on X, “befitting the most powerful Capital in the World.”
Along with the announcement on X, Burgum posted artistic mockups of the planned 250-foot-tall memorial arch. The renderings showed a towering, white arch with gold detail, stamped with “ONE NATION UNDER GOD.” On its top is a Lady Liberty-like gold figure with wings and a torch, as well as gold eagles, their wings spread outward.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), whose district includes Arlington National Cemetery, said the administration is rushing the work ahead of the November election.
“Burgum and the Trump Administration are disregarding the risks and rushing this towering monument to Trump’s vanity because they believe Republicans will get crushed in November,” Beyer said in a statement. “They believe, I hope correctly, that the project will be endangered by a new Democratic majority that actually stands up to Trump.”
Beyer said the administration has not addressed his warnings about traffic, Arlington County’s concerns about emergency vehicle access and environmental impacts, or the need for a full aeronautical study of flight risks at Reagan National Airport. He pointed to the National Transportation Safety Board’s finding that White House ballroom construction may have contributed to an August close call involving Marine One and a departing jet at DCA.
“This project is not even close to being ready for prime time,” he said. “Even Doug Burgum, in his heart, knows that this is immoral and disrespectful to America’s fallen heroes.”
Beyer, whose parents, grandparents and sister are buried at the cemetery, introduced a bill in May that would explicitly prohibit the arch. Arlington County planning staff raised many of the same practical objections in a review this summer, flagging narrow sidewalks around the circle, unstudied traffic effects on the George Washington Memorial Parkway and Richmond Highway, and possible conflicts with flight paths.
A National Park Service report released last Friday (Aug. 28) backed the project, though it said there would be adverse effects to the sightlines between a host of iconic landmarks, disrupting the historical significance of dozens of nearby sites.
Many of Washington’s monuments, buildings and sites have been carefully planned over decades to reflect significant moments in the nation’s history and to evoke symbolism through sightlines that connect them to other landmarks.
A lawsuit filed by three veterans and an architectural historian argues “congressional authorization is necessary and lacking for this project,” said Nicolas Sansone, an attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group representing the plaintiffs.
“We believe that construction cannot and should not proceed apace, and we are prepared to inform the court that it needs to, at this juncture, needs to step in,” he said. Sansone did not specify what their next court filing would be, but he added that he’s “very confident” that they’ll find success.
Burgum, in a series of posts on X, defended the arch’s construction on historical grounds, arguing that the idea for a monument had been bouncing around for more than a century, citing old reports of congressional attempts at and discussions of a monument in the circle.
“Despite Congress’s intent, the site became and remains today a barren traffic circle lacking any monumental treatment and significant historic value,” he wrote, adding that over 70 cities worldwide had “beautiful arches” but now the U.S. will have the “most spectacular and beautiful arch of them all!”
The proposed arch is one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing to leave his lasting imprint on Washington, including renaming and renovating the Kennedy Center, building a huge new White House ballroom, refurbishing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and rebuilding a golf course in East Potomac Park that could significantly reduce the public’s access to running and biking paths.
The court case is ongoing, with the Department of Justice filing a new document today arguing that the lawsuit should be thrown out.
