Trump Files Plans for 250-Foot "Triumphal Arch" — A Monument to a War He Lost

On April 10, 2026, Trump announced on Truth Social that his administration had "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."

A brief history lesson: triumphal arches are built to honor military victories. Rome built them after conquering Gaul, Judea, and Dacia. Paris built the Arc de Triomphe after Napoleon's Austerlitz. Even Washington's Memorial Arch to Washington celebrates the end of the Revolutionary War. Every major triumphal arch in history commemorates a battle won, an enemy defeated, a war ended in glory.

Trump's arch will commemorate none of those things, because Trump has no military victory to commemorate. What he has instead:

• 13 U.S. servicemembers dead in a six-week Iran war he started during peace negotiations
• ~$25 billion spent on a war that ended with a ceasefire Israel broke within hours
• Multiple aircraft losses: an F-15E shot down over Iran, three more lost in Kuwait friendly fire, a KC-135 tanker crash that killed six, an A-10 destroyed, an E-3 AWACS destroyed at Prince Sultan, a $500M THAAD radar destroyed in Jordan
• The Strait of Hormuz still closed despite five public deadlines to reopen it
• A fifth "civilization-ending" threat that ended in him agreeing to a two-week ceasefire the other side immediately walked back

The arch itself:

• 250 feet tall (166-foot structure plus a statue), dwarfing the Lincoln Memorial
• Located at Memorial Circle on Columbia Island — directly on the sightline between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial
• Designed by Harrison Design, a firm with six U.S. offices
• Topped with a winged Lady Liberty holding a torch and shield, flanked by two 24-foot eagles and four golden lions at the base
• "ONE NATION UNDER GOD" in gold facing the Mall; "LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL" on the reverse
• Branded the "Independence Arch" — tied to the 250th anniversary of the United States
• To be reviewed by a Commission of Fine Arts where Trump has appointed a number of allies

Vietnam War veterans are suing to block it. Three veterans — Michael Lemmon, Shaun Byrnes, and Jon Gundersen — joined retired architectural historian Calder Loth in a federal lawsuit filed in D.C. District Court. Their 19-page complaint argues that the arch would permanently obstruct the reciprocal view between Arlington Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial — a sightline deliberately designed nearly a century ago to symbolize the unification of the country after the Civil War.

"The unobstructed, reciprocal view between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House was designed to symbolize the unification of the country after the Civil War." — Plaintiffs' complaint

In other words: Vietnam War veterans are in court to stop Trump from blocking the view between the Lincoln Memorial and the cemetery where their brothers are buried — so he can build a victory monument over a war he didn't win.

This is the companion project to his $400 million White House ballroom — halted by a federal judge who ruled "the President is the steward of the White House for future generations. He is not, however, the owner." Trump's response to being told he's not the owner of the White House has been to file plans for an even bigger, gaudier monument somewhere else.

The Commission of Fine Arts is scheduled to consider the design at its in-person meeting this week.