Trump's plans for massive arch move ahead
Opposition to building the 250-foot arch, and using it for military purposes, is growing with one Democrat blasting Trump's plans as "foolhardy".
Trump’s massive arch plan moves forward
Plans by US President Donald Trump to build a huge arch appear to be advancing, after a federal advisory council ended discussions over how to address the 250-foot structure’s potential impact on nearby historic sites.
The council, made up of Trump appointees, said on Thursday that it was closing the required consultations on the project, explaining that historic preservation officials from Washington and Virginia had declined to approve harm-mitigation plans.
Construction had already been expected to start this month, though resistance has been mounting.
On Friday, Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth condemned proposals to use the arch for defence as “foolhardy” and described it as “yet another Trump vanity project”.
Earlier this week, Trump said the proposed “Triumphal Arch” would also serve as a facility for storing military equipment, with the capacity to launch snipers and drones from the roof and plaza.
In a letter to the Pentagon and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Duckworth said they “must reject this foolhardy plan and instead focus on increasing the safety of the airspace”.
The arch is planned for a site just outside Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, and around 4mi (6km) from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, where a deadly 2025 midair collision between a military helicopter and a commercial plane took place.
“The American people cannot afford to stand witness to Trump’s risky plan to place a 250-foot (72m) structure along a busy approach path, especially if he follows through on plans to station snipers on the arch and fly drones,” Duckworth wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.
The FAA, however, said last week that the enormous structure would not create a danger for flights arriving at or departing from the airport.
On Thursday, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, also led by Trump appointees, said it was ending the required consultations with local officials over how the structure could affect 42 historic properties in the area.
In its announcement, the council said the National Park Service, which manages federal landmarks, had put forward a plan to reduce possible damage to those properties, but local historic preservation officers “raised concerns with the purpose and need of the Triumphal Arch”. They also questioned whether the service had properly identified potential harms and planned enough measures to deal with them.
Federal and state officials are not obliged to agree on a project’s harm-mitigation plans, and the consultations may be ended if the two sides cannot reach consensus. The council expects to deliver a final report on the process early next month.
Meanwhile, Democratic Virginia Congressman Don Beyer says excavation work has already started at the site where the arch is to be built.
Beyer, who is leading congressional opposition to the arch, said he saw workers using heavy equipment when he visited the site on Thursday, and they told him they were “conducting archaeological work to evaluate the composition of the soil”.
That is “deeply troubling”, Beyer said, especially since the administration is required to provide 48 hours’ notice before work can start.
“The Administration appears to be pushing ahead with activity at the site even while it still has not done the basic work necessary to understand the consequences of this project,” Beyer wrote.
A rendering of the design released earlier this year shows a golden, winged Lady Liberty atop the arch, with two gold eagles on either side, and the phrases “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All” written in gold on both sides of the structure.