President Trump on Friday released official renderings for a proposed triumphal arch on the National Mall, posting the images to Truth Social and distributing them through the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. The plans were prepared by Harrison Design, a D.C.-area architecture, interior and landscape firm, and closely match a 3D model Trump showed at a White House event in October 2025.
The proposed monument would sit at the Arlington end of Arlington Memorial Bridge adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery. At 250 feet tall, the White House said the arch’s height is intended to mark America’s 250th birthday. The form recalls Paris’s Arc de Triomphe but is nearly 100 feet taller; the top features two gilded eagles and a winged, crowned figure evoking the Statue of Liberty. Inscriptions on the structure read “One nation under God” on one side and “Liberty and justice for all” on the other. If built, the arch would rise to more than twice the height of the nearby Lincoln Memorial.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle described the arch as a way to enhance visitors’ experience at Arlington National Cemetery and to honor veterans and the families of the fallen. When Trump first proposed the idea in October, he was asked whom the monument would honor and—on video—responded, “Me.”
A group of Vietnam War veterans filed a lawsuit in February seeking to block construction, saying the project would violate laws that require explicit congressional authorization for commemorative works and for new structures on federal park grounds in Washington, D.C., among other legal claims. Sue Mobley, director of research at Monument Lab, called the proposal “textbook Trump,” saying its scale reflects an authoritarian impulse and that the plan is likely to face extended litigation.
The White House said it will follow all legal requirements. The National Park Service asked the Commission of Fine Arts to present potential designs; that commission is scheduled to review the renderings next week. The current commission is composed entirely of members appointed by Trump after he removed six sitting commissioners in October 2025. The National Capital Planning Commission is also expected to weigh in.
Officials have not released a final cost estimate. The White House said funding would come from a mix of public and private sources; Harrison Design did not immediately respond to requests about the projected price tag.
The arch is part of a broader push by the administration to reshape federal architecture in and around Washington. Other initiatives include a proposed $400 million neoclassical White House ballroom—whose construction was temporarily allowed to proceed by a federal appeals court while the administration appeals a ruling that congressional approval was required—and demolition of the historic East Wing to accommodate that project. Additional efforts include plans to repave the Rose Garden with stone, a proposal to close the Kennedy Center for two years for major renovations (which prompted preservation groups to sue), and proposed changes at Washington Dulles International Airport under a Department of Transportation design initiative. In August, the president signed an executive order requiring new federal buildings with construction budgets over $50 million to be designed in a “classical” or “traditional” style.
Reporting contributions: Anastasia Tsioulcas.