Trump’s Planned 250-Foot Triumphal Arch Near Arlington National Cemetery

The Trump administration has announced plans to erect a 250-foot “Great Triumphal Arch” and accompanying military observation deck on Memorial Circle, midway between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the project would begin “over the next two-week period” with excavation work. The National Park Service has indicated that construction could run 20 hours a day for up to three years.

The Hill

The arch has not yet received final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, the federal agency that oversees D.C. development. Judge Tanya Chutkan has ordered the administration to give the court 48 hours’ notice before any activity on Memorial Circle beyond information-gathering, warning that premature construction would violate a prior court order. Several veterans’ groups have filed lawsuits seeking an emergency injunction to halt the project.

Scripps News (Newsy)

The administration maintains that no construction requiring full approval will commence until the project is officially green-lit.

Scripps News (Newsy)

• Height: 250 feet.

The Hill

• Construction schedule: up to 20 hours per day for three years, according to the U.S. Park Service.

The Hill

• Wait time cited by the administration: “over 125 years.”

The Hill

• “The U.S. Park Service says that construction for this arch will be 20 hours a day for up to three years. Every weekday somebody is buried at Arlington National Cemetery,” — National Cemetery. Paul Eaton, a retired major general and VoteVets adviser

The Hill

• “We are pleased to announce that after a very long wait (over 125 years!), we are preparing to start, over the next two-week period, the excavation work necessary for the Great Triumphal Arch and Military Observation Deck,” — Interior Secretary Doug Burgum

The Hill