President Donald Trump has announced his latest architectural vision, an "Arc de Trump," which will be built in the center of Washington D.C.
The 79-year-old unveiled the plans during a donor dinner in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday (October 15), revealing that the proposed triumphal arch will stand near the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate America’s 250th birthday next year.
Trump, a real estate developer by trade long before his political career, said the structure would be privately funded by his supporters. “Every time somebody rides over that beautiful bridge to the Lincoln Memorial, they literally say something is supposed to be here,” he told guests, per BBC. “We have versions of it… This is a mock-up.” He added that three versions of the arch had been designed, small, medium, and large, and that he preferred the biggest one.
The proposed location is across the Potomac River from Arlington National Cemetery, welcoming visitors into Washington, D.C. as they cross Memorial Bridge.
“In 1902, they were going to put a statue of Robert E. Lee up - would have been okay with me,” Trump said during the announcement. “A lot of people wouldn’t have liked it, would have been okay with me. It would have been okay with a lot of the people in this room, but they didn’t do that.”
“It’s an Arch… It’s Going to Be Built”
Plans for the project reportedly began circulating weeks earlier when a reporter spotted renderings of the arch on Trump’s Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
When asked what it was, the president replied, “It’s an arch… it’s going to be built.” Asked who it was for, he quipped, “For me!” The Daily Mail reported.
Trump later posted an illustration of the design on Truth Social, created by Harrison Design architect Nicolas Leo Charbonneau. Charbonneau, who also shared a watercolor rendering of the monument on September 4, captioned it: “America needs a triumphal arch!”
The model of the arch bears a strong resemblance to France’s Arc de Triomphe, one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world.
A Complex Path to Construction
While Trump has declared that the Arc de Trump will be privately funded, partly through leftover money from a $250 million White House ballroom project, experts say building such a monument in Washington, D.C., is far from straightforward.
Dr. Christine Henry, director of the Center for Historic Preservation at the University of Mary Washington, said that developing a new memorial in the district requires congressional approval and must pass through a 24-step process overseen by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) and the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA).
"You have to look at the environmental impact of anything as well as all of these concerns about the aesthetics and the engineering," Henry added.
Federal law also prohibits new construction on the National Mall itself, meaning Trump’s proposed location near the Memorial Bridge would likely fall within a designated area that allows new monuments but only if they are deemed of “preeminent historical and lasting significance to the United States".
Preston Bryant, a former chairman of the NCPC appointed by President Barack Obama, said that even with fast-tracking, the Arc de Trump is unlikely to be ready by July 4, 2026.
“If federal law is followed and the design goes through the NCPC and CFA review and approval process, to then be followed by construction, I have a hard time seeing how this arch will be designed, approved and constructed by July 4th of next year,” Bryant said.
The design is part of a broader series of projects Trump has reportedly considered as part of his second-term agenda to reshape Washington, D.C, which included a gilded makeover for the White House, and a “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring portraits of all 45 presidents - including himself.