Trump says planned Washington triumphal arch will double as 'military complex' with drones and snipers
The president announced on Sunday that his planned 250-foot arch between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery would house drones, snipers and ammunition stores.
President Donald Trump has announced that the 250-foot triumphal arch he wants built across the Potomac River from Washington DC will double as a “top grade Military Complex” housing drones, snipers and ammunition stores.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said he had agreed, at the “strong request” of the US military and for national security purposes, to convert the planned memorial arch. It would “house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage,” he wrote. “There will be no facility like this anywhere in the World,” USA Today reported.
The arch is planned for Memorial Circle near the Memorial Bridge, between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery — twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial. The announcement caught several people working with the administration on the project by surprise, CNN reported.
The project is already facing legal opposition: earlier this month US District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered the government to give the court 48 hours’ notice before any activity at the site, after a group of Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian sued, arguing the arch would desecrate the grounds of Arlington and needs Congress’s approval. More than 100,000 people have submitted comments to the National Park Service, and the plan still needs final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission (NPR).
Rep. Don Beyer, the Virginia Democrat whose district includes the site, has called the project illegal and narcissistic, warning it would worsen traffic and accusing the administration of rushing “this towering monument to Trump’s vanity”. The military-complex framing mirrors Trump’s description of the planned White House ballroom, which he has likewise cast as a national-security necessity (Associated Press).
Sources
- USA Today: Trump says triumphal arch will also serve as ‘military complex’ with snipers — usatoday.com
- Associated Press: Trump says his planned arch would become a ‘military complex’ able to host drones and snipers — wvlt.tv
- CNN: Trump says proposed triumphal arch will double as military complex — cnn.com
- NPR: Trump says his D.C. arch will serve as ‘military complex’ with snipers and drones — nprillinois.org
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