Plan for Trump’s ‘Triumphal Arch’ Clears Another Important Hurdle with DC Commission Approval
The U.S. commission of Fine Arts has approved President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot Triumphal Arch near Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., allowing the project to move forward. The commission supported the revised design after small changes from the original proposal, including removing an eight-foot base and four gold lions from the sides because they were judged not native to the United States.
Reporting also notes debates over the winged Lady Liberty statue at the top, but the architect said Trump considered removing it and ultimately chose to keep it so the arch would celebrate America and its people. Trump welcomed the approval and compared the arch to Paris’s arc de Triomphe.
CNN reports the next step is approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, where the project also faces a legal challenge from a Vietnam war veterans’ group. critics-including some historians and preservationists-have raised concerns about the arch’s scale and potential obstruction of views of Arlington National Cemetery. The administration has begun required site and geotechnical surveys, with additional steps needed before a final proposal is submitted.
The United States Commission of Fine Arts gave the go-ahead on Thursday for President Donald Trump’s 250-foot Triumphal Arch, which will be located near Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., to go forward.
There were some slight modifications to the original design submitted to the entity last month based on input from some of the commissioners at a later meeting.
“While the arch remains 250 feet tall in the revised design, the overall height of the structure shrank with the removal of an eight-foot-tall base that had been included in a previous version presented to the Commission of Fine Arts, an agency that advises the president and Congress on design plans for monuments, memorials, coins and federal buildings,” CNN reported.
“Four gold lions that had previously adorned the side of the arch along the base have also been removed – a change the CFA had pushed for given that lions are ‘not native to the United States,’” CNN further noted.
The commission’s vice chairperson, architect James McCrery II, had said when the CFA reviewed the plans that he would prefer the winged Lady Liberty statue to be removed from the top, as well, WRC-TV reported.
HAPPENING NOW: President Trump reacts live to the Commission of Fine Arts approving his design for a new monument in Washington, D.C., confirming plans for an arch near Arlington National Cemetery.
“We’re building what’s called the Triumphal Arch. Right opposite the Arlington… pic.twitter.com/tG49izvN53
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 21, 2026
But Nicolas Charbonneau, a director at Harrison Design, which drew up the blueprints, told commissioners on Thursday that Trump considered removing the statue “but elected not to pursue such an option” because he wants the arch to celebrate America and the living, WRC-TV added.
Trump celebrated the news of the CFA’s decision after a reporter at the White House told him the commission had greenlit the project.
“I finally get good news,” he said. “So, we’re building what’s called a Triumphal Arch right opposite the Arlington Memorial Bridge, right by Arlington Cemetery.”
Trump likened it to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which Napoleon commissioned in the early 1800s to commemorate the victories of the French armies.
“We have to do slightly larger. It doesn’t have to be a lot larger. Otherwise, you’d all be disappointed in me,” he joked.
The Arc de Triomphe is 164 feet tall, compared to the Triumphal Arch’s 250 feet, though the main structure is 166 feet, with the Lady Liberty Statue and pedestal on top adding 84 feet.
As a further height reference, the Lincoln Memorial is 99 feet tall, while the Washington Monument is just over 555 feet.
Trump said of the arch, “We’re the only important and major city that doesn’t have one,” referring to Washington, D.C.
Pres. Trump’s triumphal arch design is approved! The 250-foot “Arc de Trump” is being built at this site: pic.twitter.com/2s1HoNikLj
— emily miller (@emilymiller) May 21, 2026
CNN reported that the Trump administration’s next step will be to gain the approval of the National Capital Planning Commission.
“The arch is facing a legal challenge from a Vietnam War veterans’ group related to its scale and obstruction of the view of the Arlington National Cemetery and has drawn criticism from historians and preservationists,” the outlet added.
The administration has already done initial assessments of the ground where the arch will be located.
An Interior Department spokesperson told CNN, “Site surveys, such as geotechnical work, have started in Memorial Circle which is statutorily required. This is standard practice to test the grounds and soil. The ongoing geotechnical and site survey work are required before providing a final proposal.”
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