President Trump is being criticized for his plan to build a 250-foot arch in the center of the nation’s capital, erecting a structure that would be taller than the Lincoln Memorial.
Sharing a rendering of what he has named the “Triumphal Arch,” Trump wrote: “I am pleased to announce that TODAY my Administration officially filed the presentation and plans to the highly respected Commission of Fine Arts for what will 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!”
[NOTE: Although Trump earlier promised the arch would be funded privately, The White House is now seeking $15 million from the National Endowment for the Arts to build the structure. The members of the Commission of Fine Arts, charged with approving the plan, are all Trump appointees.]
Critics of the arch include former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele, who replied: “Please trash this ish. As someone who grew up in this beautiful city, we do not need this monstrosity destroying historic sightlines, overshadowing the Lincoln Memorial, throwing up all over Arlington Cemetery or standing as a monument to Trump–because in the end, that’s all this is. We ain’t Paris and he ain’t Napoleon.”
Please trash this ish. As someone who grew up in this beautiful city, we do not need this monstrosity destroying historic sightlines, overshadowing the Lincoln Memorial, throwing up all over Arlington Cemetery or standing as a monument to Trump–because in the end, that’s all… https://t.co/qMTBnMlwIe
— Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) April 11, 2026
A group of Vietnam veterans are suing President Trump to stop the project, which they say will block views of Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.
According to the lawsuit, Trump’s arch “will block historically significant reciprocal views between those two memorials that were consciously designed and that have existed for nearly a century.” Further objections contend that “it will dominate the views of and the relationship between the surrounding memorials … disrupting the historic and symbolic link between the two.”