Donald Trump's 'Triumphal Arch' design revealed
The president's latest attempt to remake Washington was just submitted to his handpicked Commission on Fine Arts.
Phillip M. BaileyFrom the White House to federal office buildings, President Donald Trump's personal makeover of Washington continued April 10 with the administration unveiling drawings of a 250-foot "triumphal arch" across the Potomac River from the National Mall.
The president first teased this idea in a Jan. 23 post on Truth Social, showcasing three renderings ‒ each with slightly different features ‒ of the arch he wants built on the opposite side of the Arlington Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial, which is less than half as tall.
In the version submitted to the Commission on Fine Arts, the "Triumphal Arch" bears two 24-foot-tall golden eagles and a gold winged angel on top with the words “One Nation Under God” on one side and “Liberty and Justice for All” on the other. Many have remarked its resemblance with the Arc de Triomphe in Paris with some dubbing it "Arc de Trump" − a fitting nickname, because when asked by CBS News who the arch would honor Trump said, "me."
The federal design panel, to which Trump has appointed multiple members after firing six appointed by former President Joe Biden, will consider the project's design next week.
An iconography-focused administration
Trump has pitched the project to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States in July, but its theme fits with a larger effort by the president to redesign things, sometimes in his own image.
In March, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Trump’s signature will appear on all future U.S. paper currency, the first time such a gesture has been made for a sitting president. The department will also produce a $1 coin featuring Trump's face commemorating the anniversary and it is producing a 24-karat gold commemorative coin with Trump's portrait. Both plans have drawn criticism from Democrats and others for violating a norm against putting living presidents on currency dating back to the nation's founding.
A month before that, a giant banner depicting a glaring Trump was installed across the facade of the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., with the phrase "Make America Safe Again" printed beneath the image of the president's face.
In 2025, he renamed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts the "Trump-Kennedy Center."
The same arts panel that will evaluate the arch already approved Trump’s gold commemorative coin design.
Then there's the White House grounds, where the former real estate tycoon tore up manicured grass in the famous Rose Garden to install a stone patio and demolished the East Wing to build a $400 million ballroom, which hit a snag after a federal judge's recent decision issuing a stop order "absent express authorization from Congress."
Legal questions and opposition
Much like Trump's other redesigns, the arch is not without opposition.
A group of Vietnam veterans who've sued to block its construction, arguing that the Trump administration failed to follow federal law limiting new commemorative works in the area, namely that it requires a recommendation from the interior secretary or the General Services Administration after consultation with other commissions.
The White House has not said how much the arch would cost, but the president has said he will use private dollars to pay for it. He also has pledged to use private donations to cover the $400 million price tag for the new ballroom on the White House grounds also, which some ethics advocates say invites corruption when donors have business before the federal government.
On April 6, the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint asking the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia to investigate whether 35 corporate lobbyists failed to report donations to Trump’s projects, including the White House ballroom and a renovation of the Kennedy-Trump Center.