Trump says triumphal arch to serve as military complex

Sept. 20 (UPI) — President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the triumphal arch being built in his honor in Washington, D.C., will be converted into a military complex.

He said he made the decision at the “strong request” of the U.S. military. He said the structure would “have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas,” he wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.

“There will be no facility like this anywhere in the World. Out of the 59 top cities and Capitals, Washington, D.C., IS THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD THAT DOES NOT HAVE A TRIUMPHAL ARCH, but it will now and, by far, the greatest of them all!” Trump said.

Excavation work began earlier this month for the arch at Memorial Circle across the Potomac River at the opposite end of Arlington Memorial Bridge. It’s expected to be 250 feet tall and 166 feet wide, more than twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial.

Like other capital construction projects being spearheaded by Trump in his second term, the construction of the arch has faced litigation from those who oppose it. A group of Vietnam War veterans and an architecture historian sued in February to block the building. They said it lacks congressional approval would disrupt a historically intended sightline.

The National Park Service issued a revised assessment of effects report on the structure in late August, saying it would “adversely affect several historic properties within the [area of potential effects] through changes in spatial organization, land use, setting, vegetation, and views and vistas.”