Trump’s Planned Triumphal Arch Will Also Serve As Military Complex, President Claims Military ‘Requested’ Conversion

The United States Triumphal Arch, a proposed 250-foot tall structure that will stand across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial, will double as a military facility, Trump claimed.

"At the strong request of the United States Military, and for National Security purposes, I have agreed to convert the magnificent Triumphal Arch ... into a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch", the president posted on Truth Social on Sunday.

Trump did not specify who in the military requested the augmentation of the structure, nor why they might have done so.

The facility will, according to Trump, "house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage".

Trump's emphasis on the arch's security functions are reminiscent of his insistence that the construction of the White House Ballroom, a $400 million project whose construction was approved by the supreme court after being temporarily halted by an appeals court ruling, be completed for the sake of national security.

The ballroom complex will include "Bomb shelters, State of the Art Hospital and Medical Facilities, Protective Partitioning, Top Secret Military Facilities" Trump claimed.

Opposition to the construction of the arch may have motivated Trump to make the structure militarily useful and thus justify its erection by using the same national security logic.

Three Vietnam War veterans and architectural historian Calder Loth are leading a high-profile legal challenge against the arch's construction. They argue that the project is being sought without the necessary congressional approval and that the monument would block the symbolically charged view between Arlington Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.

Critics of the proposal say that the sightline between the two iconic American landmarks represent national unity and post-Civil War reconciliation, and therefore should remain clear.

The arch is meant to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence; each foot represents a year since the declaration. If it is built, the arch would be the tallest of its kind in the world, surpassing the iconic French Arc de Triomphe in Paris by nearly 90 feet.

On September 2, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum revealed that excavation work on the project would begin within a two-week period, though it is unclear whether excavation has commenced.