Trump arch in DC to serve military role
250-foot-tall structure to host drones, snipers, president says
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WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump said Sunday that the massive arch he wants to build between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery would become a "top grade military complex" able to host drones and snipers while storing ammunition.
The Pentagon said it had no information beyond the president's plan.
The Republican president said in a social media post that he had agreed, at the "strong request" of the military, to convert the planned 250-foot-tall memorial arch "into a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch, to 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 announcement also comes as the arch, like his other projects, faces legal challenges. Though the arch has received early approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a group of three veterans and an architectural historian sued, saying the project needs to be approved by Congress.
"The President's belated efforts to manufacture a national security justification for this project do nothing to cure its fundamental illegality," Nicolas Sansone, one of the attorneys representing the litigants, said Sunday. "Congress has not authorized the arch and unless and until Congress does so, the project should not be permitted to move forward."
The arch is proposed for a circle adjacent to the Memorial Bridge, a heavy traffic area between the nation's capital and northern Virginia. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who represents the area, noted another potential problem, given the proximity to the Washington airport.
"Putting a drone launching site directly in the landing path for DCA is a stupid, dangerous, and unworkable idea," Beyer wrote on X. "Trump clearly expects to lose a lawsuit and therefore wants to set up a pretext," he added.