Trump proposes incorporating military facilities into Washington arch design

President Donald Trump said Sunday that his planned triumphal arch near Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., would be converted into a military complex capable of storing and rapidly deploying drones, snipers and ammunition.

In a Truth Social post, the president said the change came at the “strong request” of the U.S. military and was required for national security, but he did not identify the officials or service branches involved or provide evidence of a formal military request.

Trump said the monument would allow the deployment of “large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage” turning it into a “top grade Military Complex” as well as a national monument.

The announcement significantly expands the stated purpose of a project previously presented as a monumental gateway and visitor attraction near Arlington National Cemetery. It also raises new questions about security, public access, approvals and the storage of weapons beside one of the country’s most sensitive ceremonial sites. Existing descriptions have included galleries and an open-air observation deck inside the planned structure.

A Pentagon official referred Newsweek to the president’s social media post and offered no additional comment.

Newsweek contacted the White House for comment via email outside of regular office hours.

In October 2025, The Washington Post reported Trump wanted to construct a new triumphal arch, comparable with the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence.

Public planning documents describe a roughly 250-foot granite-clad structure with associated plaza and landscaping work, utilities, traffic modifications, lighting and security features. The published project description does not mention drones, sniper positions or ammunition storage, leaving unclear whether Trump’s announcement would require the design and its federal reviews to be revised.

The proposed monument would be more than twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial and would significantly alter the Washington D.C. skyline if constructed.

The Trump administration is proposing to build the new arch at Memorial Circle, a roundabout just across the Potomac from the Lincoln Memorial in front of Arlington National Cemetery.

Memorial Circle is within Lady Bird Johnson Park, which was constructed between 1915 and 1930. It was renamed in 1968 as a tribute to First Lady Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson.

In July, the planned monument, designed in the classical style, received preliminary approval from the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), a federal agency staffed with Trump appointees.

The National Park Service (NPS) has issued a finding that the previously described project would have no significant environmental impact but said the finding did not amount to a final decision or approval. The Post reported that the Trump administration is hoping to receive this in November.

In May, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), an independent federal government agency, voted to approve the proposed arch. Members of the commission were appointed by Trump at the beginning of his second term. With the agency's approval, a group of three veterans and an architectural historian sued, saying the project needs to be approved by Congress, arguing that the project violates the Commemorative Works Act.

Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration has cleared the monument from an aviation-safety standpoint.

The proposal had already attracted intense scrutiny before Trump announced its potential military role. The NPS said it received more than 100,000 comments during a June historic-preservation review, with commenters raising concerns about the arch’s scale, construction and potential effect on the sightline linking the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Memorial Bridge, Arlington National Cemetery and Arlington House.

In a recent planning document, the NPS wrote that it "recognizes that Memorial Circle is located within a highly sensitive historic and commemorative landscape and that the Undertaking’s location contributes to adverse effects to historic properties."

It added that because such effects "cannot be fully avoided while retaining the location...NPS has consulted to identify measures to minimize and mitigate adverse effects to historic properties."

It is unclear exactly why the Trump administration now wants the arch to function as a “top grade Military Complex” in addition to a national monument as initially planned.

The president has previously said his planned new White House ballroom would also function as a “Great National Security Facility.” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One in March that “the military is building a massive complex under the ballroom.”

He described the building as effectively sitting over that structure, which he said would include drone-proofing and other defensive features. He also said the ballroom would use bulletproof glass and hardened materials.

Some critics have suggested this was done to reframe the project as a piece of national security infrastructure to assist with the planning process.

The NCPC must grant full permission before the monument’s construction can start. A review is currently being conducted into the arch’s likely impact by the NPS, which The New York Times reported could be completed ahead of the NCPC’s decision later this fall.

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.

Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Daniel Orton and Anthony Murray.