President Donald Trump’s newest bid to etch an enduring imprint on Washington, D.C., has hit an unforeseen snag issued by his own administration.
A fresh federal assessment released recently warns that the proposal would carry broad repercussions, with critics arguing it could alter the character of several of the capital’s most celebrated sites in a fundamental way.
Following a public comment window that closed on Thursday, July 31, the National Park Service reported that Trump’s plan for a 250-foot-tall “Triumphal Arch,” also dubbed the “Arc de Trump,” designed as a monument to the president, would disrupt and potentially undermine the gravity of numerous historic and sacred viewpoints across the city—among them the Lincoln Memorial, the gravesite of John F. Kennedy, and various vantage points of Arlington National Cemetery, to mention only some.
Many memorials and monuments around the capital are historically and symbolically connected. The NPS verified a gigantic Trump arch would alter and, in many cases, ruin the significance of the treasured sites.
The arch site is located on Memorial Circle in Arlington, Virginia, at the foot of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, close to the National Mall. It would dwarf almost every other memorial and building in Washington and violate height limits and zoning laws.
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The NPS says a total of 37 sites would be “adversely affected” by Trump’s giant monument, according to The Hill.
“The undertaking … would result in impacts to the integrity of historic properties through the alteration of character-defining visual and spatial relationships that contribute to their significance,” the NPS study revealed, USA Today reported.
Other sites impacted include the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, the U.S. Capitol and the National Mall and National Mall Historic District, the Pentagon, Lady Bird Johnson Park, the Robert E. Lee Memorial, the Lyndon B. Johnson Memorial Grove, and the George Mason Memorial.
Social media exploded in opposition to Trump’s narcissistic plans and utter disregard for the history of the capital.
Occupy Democrats, in an X post, announced, “BREAKING: ‘UGLIFICATION!’”
“The National Park Service just confirmed what critics have been screaming for months: Donald Trump’s obsession with building the world’s largest triumphal arch would inflict serious damage on nearly 40 of America’s most sacred historic sites.”
The post went on to explain that the “damage is spelled out in stark detail.”
“This isn’t speculation from activists,” the post continued. “This is the federal government’s own Section 106 preservation review, which mandates that federal agencies consider the range of ‘undertakings’ that would affect historic sites and monuments that are on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under preservation law.”
The Hill reported the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, a group of Trump appointees, has voted to rewrite the rules, or 106 preservation review, requiring public notice if historic sites are impacted by a project, which would help accelerate public projects built near historic sites.
Another X user simply posted side-by-side images of Trump’s proposed arch and one German dictator and Nazi top dog Adolf Hitler wanted to build. The monuments look eerily similar, but Hitler’s arch was never built.
X poster CineCal posted a hysterical meme of a huge arch depicting fat legs and feet with Trump’s name emblazoned across the grotesque-looking monolith.
“I don’t want that thing. So how do we let rump know most of America doesn’t want it?,” another fumed.
Another joined in showing a giant golden toilet in place of Trump’s proposed monument.
This X user pointed out, “Can someone go and slap the shit out of this pompous cretin?? Are we paying for this vanity project while cuts are made to programs? Congress can sit there with no say??
Trump announced the giant arch project last year as a lasting memorial to himself. He hopes to break ground on the memorial in September with around-the-clock construction planned in order to have it built before he leaves office in early 2029.
The plans call for a neoclassical structure topped with eagles, a golden winged statue inscriptions from the Pledge of Allegiance, and an observation deck.
Axios reported last year a staggering $100 million price tag for the vanity project.
