The Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to break ground on a massive 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington, even though the project still lacks final approval from a key federal planning agency. Per Fox, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that excavation work would begin within the next two weeks on the site. It’s a bold move, especially with an active lawsuit still working its way through the courts over whether the administration even has the authority to build it.
The arch itself is enormous. Officially called the Great Triumphal Arch and Military Observation Deck, it would stand 250 feet tall, more than twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial and about 86 feet taller than Paris’s Arc de Triomphe.
Renderings released by the administration show a white arch with gold detailing, the words “ONE NATION UNDER GOD” across the top. There is also a winged Lady Liberty-style figure holding a torch, and gold eagles with their wings spread outward.
The approval process isn’t actually finished yet
Burgum framed the timeline as long overdue, writing on X that Washington is currently the only major Western capital without a triumphal arch of its own. “Now after 125 years of waiting, the most powerful capital in the world will be the home of the most spectacular and beautiful arch of them all,” he wrote, adding that the structure would sit on Memorial Circle at the western end of Arlington Memorial Bridge, between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
The National Capital Planning Commission voted in July to approve the arch’s preliminary site and building plans after hearing hours of public testimony against the project, but the commission has not yet signed off on the final design, and its own staff had recommended revisions to bring the arch in line with the century-old Height of Buildings Act that restricts how tall structures in Washington can be.
Legal opposition is the other piece standing in the way. Three Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian, represented by the watchdog group Public Citizen, sued the federal government arguing that the administration never received the congressional authorization needed to build something of this scale. Justice Department lawyers pushed back in a Thursday filing, arguing that the plaintiffs’ “distaste for the perceived symbolism of the proposed arch” does not establish a concrete and particularized injury.
Once ground actually breaks, undoing that work becomes a much harder ask for anyone challenging the project in court, which is likely part of why the administration isn’t waiting around for a final ruling. The arch is one of several major architectural projects Trump has pushed forward in the capital recently, alongside the White House ballroom, a renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and a redevelopment of a golf course in East Potomac Park, all tied to the broader push around the country’s 250th anniversary.
Published: Sep 4, 2026 01:30 pm