Trump says his planned triumphal arch will double as a military complex to store ammunition
Trump said the updated plans were at the request of the US military and for national security purposes.
Trump says his planned triumphal arch will also serve as a military complex for storing ammunition
US President Donald Trump has said his proposed triumphal arch will also function as a complex for storing military equipment, with the capacity to deploy snipers and drones.
In a Sunday morning post, Trump said he is revising the plans at the "strong request" of the US military and for "national security purposes".
The "top grade" military complex and arch will "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", he said.
He gave no details about construction plans or timing, and it is unclear whether he needs any further approval for the facility.
"There will be no facility like this anywhere in the World," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. He added that among "the 59 top cities and Capitals", Washington DC is "the only one in the world that does not have a triumphal arch", without saying which cities he meant.
Construction on Trump's 250-foot arch, planned for a site across the Potomac River from Washington DC just outside the Arlington National Cemetery, was expected to start this month.
A rendering of the design from earlier this year shows a golden, winged Lady Liberty atop the arch, flanked by two gold eagles, with the phrases "One Nation Under God" and "Liberty and Justice for All" written in gold on either side of the structure. It will rise 250-feet (76m) from its base to the top of the golden lady statue.
At that height, the structure would tower over the nearby 99-foot Lincoln Memorial and reach half the height of the Washington Monument.
Plans for the arch from earlier this year feature a golden, winged Lady Liberty on the top, flanked by two gold eagles.
Trump has pushed a range of construction projects in his second term to reshape the US capital, including a gilded makeover of the Oval Office, building a White House ballroom estimated to cost around $400m, paving over the White House Rose Garden, and renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The triumphal arch is among the largest projects Trump has targeted.