The Trump administration released the official plans Friday for a 250-foot triumphal arch to be located near the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C.
The arch, which will sit across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial, will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding.
“The drawings were submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts, a federal design panel that President Trump has stacked with allies. It will consider the project’s design at its meeting next week,” The New York Times reported.
🚨 BREAKING: BEAUTIFUL new renderings released of President Trump’s upcoming triumphal ARCH in Washington DC
This is going to be incredible 🔥
Look at the gold! Liberals are going to lose it 🤣 pic.twitter.com/tnjVNmMAfB
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 10, 2026
According to the plans, the white marble arch will have a winged golden Lady Liberty statue on top, flanked by two bald eagles, also gold in color.
The arch will have the words “One Nation Under God” inscribed near the top.
Trump displayed a model of the proposed arch at a White House fundraising dinner in October, along with his plans for a $400 million ballroom.
President Trump has unveiled model of triumphal arch to business titans at White House ballroom fundraiser. https://t.co/LNWCzIkEE4
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 16, 2025
It appeared to have been modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which was commissioned by Napoleon to commemorate the victories of the French armies.
The Times noted, “Mr. Trump has taken a number of actions to remake Washington in his image and remodel the White House, including covering the Oval Office in gold and paving the grass of the Rose Garden. The president is also planning a National Garden of American Heroes with 250 statues.”
“But the most dramatic step was his sudden demolition last fall of the White House’s East Wing to make way for his planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom,” the outlet added.
Late last month, a federal judge ruled that construction of the ballroom needed to halt until Trump could obtain congressional approval.
“[U]nless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop! But here is the good news. It is not too late for Congress to authorize the continued construction of the ballroom project,” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, held.
“The President may at any time go to Congress to obtain express authority to construct a ballroom and to do so with private funds,” the judge added.
When he announced the project last fall, Trump said it would be privately funded.
BREAKING: @PressSec announces the construction of a new 90,000 sq ft ballroom at the White House — with construction to begin in September.
Visit https://t.co/Nq7Vqlw3HO for more. pic.twitter.com/XadWWxOGON
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 31, 2025
The Commission of Fine Arts approved the ballroom on Feb. 19, and the National Capital Planning Commission followed suit last week.
A day before the judge’s ruling, Trump pointed out that the military is constructing a “massive complex” under the new ballroom.
BELOW THE SURFACE: President Trump reveals the U.S. military is building a “massive complex” beneath the planned, privately-funded White House ballroom, and that construction is “ahead of schedule.” pic.twitter.com/VDbepFqox8
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 30, 2026
“The ballroom essentially becomes a shed for what’s being built [by] the military, including from drones and including from any other thing,” he said.
The Trump administration has appealed Leon’s ruling.
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