June 11, 2026:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Construction of the 250-foot-high triumphal arch that President Donald Trump wants built near the Lincoln Memorial could occur 20 hours per day, year-round, as officials push to complete the project within three years, according to a preliminary assessment by the National Park Service.
Tower cranes up to 320 feet tall, forklifts, concrete pump systems and other equipment would be needed to build the arch, which would be more than twice as high as the Lincoln Memorial. Work would occur year-round in two 10-hour shifts per day, the Park Service report said.
The 24-page assessment by NPS staff was released last week as a part of a fast-tracked historic preservation review that began Friday. The park service oversees the land where the administration wants to build the arch.
The National Capital Planning Commission voted last week to seek more information from the Interior Department, which oversees the park service. The vote essentially kept the project alive as officials study how the arch could potentially impact air travel, as well as other specifics on construction and traffic in the area.
The June 4 vote came after nearly three hours of public comment from about 20 members of the public, some representing historic and architectural organizations, and most of whom expressed concerns about the arch that is one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing to leave his imprint on Washington.
Preliminary surveys and testing of the arch site began last month, and other approvals are underway. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts — which only oversees designs and has no role in the actual construction or funding of the arch or any other project it considers — has approved the arch’s design.
Concerns over arch’s height
The capital planning commission is seeking more information justifying the proposed height of the towering arch, as well as additional details about lighting, management of storm water and how traffic and parking would be regulated for visitors.
The planned site for the arch, across the Potomac River from the memorial, is on a flight path near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it is reviewing whether the project’s planned height poses a risk to airplane travel in the area. An American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided a year ago in crowded skies near the airport, killing 67 people.
The FAA review “found no adverse impacts to operations” at Reagan Airport from the proposed arch. but determined that the top of the structure would need to be lit with red obstruction lights — a common safety tool, spokesman Donnell Evans said. The FAA will conduct a full aeronautical study in coordination with the National Park Service, he said.
The park service, in its report, said aviation-required safety lighting would be incorporated into the arch design “using the least intrusive technology available, ensuring compliance with aircraft visibility requirements while limiting unnecessary light emission.”
Will Scharf, who has served as Trump’s White House staff secretary, heads the commission and has said he believes a federal law limiting building heights for new construction in Washington should not apply to the arch. The law restricts most construction in Washington to a maximum height of 130 feet.
The arch faces a legal challenge
Critics have argued that the arch would dominate the skyline and disrupt carefully designed views between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. It would be more than twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial, which is 99 feet (30 meters), and close to half the height of the Washington Monument, which is about 555 feet (169 meters).
Trump has pushed for the 250-foot-tall arch to mark America’s 250th anniversary, and has said the project could be paid for with private donations left over from the project to build a new White House ballroom. The White House East Wing was demolished to make way for a large ballroom.
A cost estimate for the arch is still being calculated, but a mix of taxpayer and private funds is expected to pay for it. A group of veterans and a historian have sued the Trump administration in federal court to block the project over concerns about disruptions to the sightline.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut criticized the administration about what he called its “persistent lack of transparency” in its efforts to advance Trump’s Washington-area construction projects. Besides the planned ballroom, Trump also is renovating the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool and rebuilding a public golf course along the Potomac River. None of projects have gone through usual legal reviews or Congress.
“Your disregard for legal process and public interest has been apparent in projects ranging from the construction of a White House Ballroom and triumphal arch to the resealing of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool,” Blumenthal wrote in a letter Tuesday to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and acting park service director Jessica Bowron.
May 21, 2026:
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says it’s “fantastic” that a key federal agency approved the design for the triumphal arch he wants to build at an entrance to the nation’s capital. The Republican president says Washington needs an arch because it’s the only major Western capital without one. His version would rise on a traffic circle between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts gave its final approval on Thursday (May 21, 2026) to a slightly revised design. A separate agency that oversees construction on federal land must still approve the plan. At 250 feet, critics say the arch is too big for the region.
April 16, 2026, update:
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal commission has approved the design concept for the Triumphal Arch that President Donald Trump wants to build at an entrance to the nation’s capital. The 250-foot-tall arch would rise on federal land on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, at the end of Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts will review an updated design at a later date before a final vote after commissioners approved the concept at their meeting Thursday (April 16, 2026). The arch is one of several projects, including a new White House ballroom, that the Republican president is pursuing to leave a lasting imprint on the city.
April 16, 2026:
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s design for the Triumphal Arch he wants built at an entrance to the U.S. capital comes up for a review and possible vote Thursday (April 16, 2026) by a key federal agency, one of several projects he is pursuing alongside a White House ballroom to leave his lasting footprint on Washington.
Trump said on social media that the arch “will be the GREATEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL Triumphal Arch, anywhere in the World” and a “wonderful addition to the Washington D.C. area for all Americans to enjoy for many decades to come!”
Also on the agenda for the monthly meeting of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose seven members were appointed by the Republican president, is his plan to paint the gray granite exterior of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House white.
A third White House-related project, construction of an underground center to conduct security screenings of tourists and other guests, is also up for consideration.
Commissioners are scheduled to review design plans for all three projects. They will be reviewing the arch and the paint job for the first time. The White House visitors’ center was discussed at the March meeting. It was unclear if the commission would approve any of the projects on Thursday.
A separate oversight panel, the National Capital Planning Commission, opened its consideration of the visitors’ center last month. It should receive Trump’s arch design soon for consideration and an approval vote.
Triumphal Arch
The arch would stand 250 feet tall (76 meters) from its base to a torch held aloft by a Lady Liberty-like figure atop the structure. The figure would be flanked up top by two eagles and guarded at the base by four lions — all gilded. The phrases “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All” would be inscribed in gold lettering atop either side of the monument.
The arch would be built on a human-made island managed by the National Park Service on the Virginia side of the Potomac River at the end of Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. The arch would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial, which stands at 99 feet (30 meters) tall.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the 250-foot height will honor America’s 250 years of existence.
But it’s already the subject of litigation. A group of veterans and a historian have sued in federal court to block construction on the grounds that the arch will disrupt the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery, among other reasons.
Underground screening center for White House visitors
The U.S. Secret Service, Interior Department, National Park Service, and the Executive Office of the President want to start construction in August on a 33,000-square-foot (3,066-square-meter) center to screen tourists and other visitors to the White House.
It would be built beneath Sherman Park, federal land southwest of the White House, to provide a more secure place to screen those going on White House tours or attending events. The new facility would have seven lanes to ease processing and reduce wait times.
Officials want it operating by July 2028, six months before Trump’s term ends.
Eisenhower Executive Office Building paint job
Trump said the Executive Office Building is beautiful, but he doesn’t like its gray exterior.
“It’s one of the most beautiful buildings anywhere in Washington,” Trump said in August. “I think it’s just incredible, but you have to get past the color because the stone they used was a really bad color.”
Two proposals were given to the commission: Cover the entire building in bright white or paint most of it white while leaving untouched the granite on the exposed basement and subbasement.
In written materials, the White House said the building has been largely neglected since its construction. It said the building’s color, design and massing do not “align visually with the surrounding architecture” and lack ”any symbolic cohesion with the White House.”
The paint job is also the subject of litigation in federal court.
The building sits across a driveway from the West Wing. It was completed in 1888 after 17 years of construction, and its granite, slate, and cast iron exterior makes it one of America’s best examples of the French Second Empire style of architecture.
It originally housed the State, War and Navy departments, and currently houses offices for the vice president and the National Security Council, among others.
The building is a National Historic Landmark and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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