News
The announcement follows a series of recent rollbacks on federal protections of historically significant sites.
Excavation efforts are set to begin within the next two weeks for President Donald Trump’s controversial “Great Triumphal Arch,” according to a statement Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted on X on Thursday, September 3. The announcement was made before the project has even received the green light from a federal review panel.
The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), which evaluates design proposals throughout Washington, DC, preliminarily approved Trump’s project on July 9, but issued several comments the president must address before earning the committee’s final approval. The NCPC’s primary concern is the height of the 250-foot-tall structure, which could violate the 130-foot cap imposed by the 1910 Height of Buildings Act and obstruct the sightlines of dozens of historical landmarks.
“This will be one of the Great Pieces of American Architecture, honoring the history and significance of Arlington Cemetery and befitting the most powerful Capital in the World,” Burgum added in his post on Thursday, a month before the NCPC’s next scheduled review on October 1.
Sitting on the highly trafficked Memorial Circle near Arlington National Cemetery, the white granite-clad arch will include a “Military Observation Deck” and be topped by two statues of gold eagles and one of a golden winged figure. While the project has been presented as a celebratory marker of the country’s 250th anniversary, Trump has also dedicated the monument, which many have deemed the “Arc de Trump,” to himself.
