WASHINGTON — The battle over President Donald Trump’s proposed triumphal arch opened a new front Thursday as members of the public — including numerous veterans — attacked the design, criticizing it as corrupt, vain and a desecration of Arlington National Cemetery.
After teasing it in October 2025, Trump has continued to promote his vision for a 250-foot triumphal arch situated between the Lincoln Memorial and the final resting grounds for more than 400,000 American service members and their eligible dependents. The arch will “celebrate the triumphs of the American people, inspire patriotism and love of country, and beautify our nation’s capital,” the Department of the Interior, as the project sponsor, declared in its submission materials.
Opposition to the president’s ambitions for the D.C. skyline coalesced around a lawsuit filed in February by Public Citizen, a left-wing group — partly funded by leftist billionaire George Soros — which advertises itself as an advocate for consumer protection and government transparency. The group notably attacked Trump-appointed National Capital Planning Commission Chairman William Scharf as unqualified for the position during NCPC’s March hearing on the East Wing Modernization project.
Among the lawsuit’s plaintiffs are three Vietnam War veterans and diplomats who object to the proposed arch. They argue the arch “would dishonor their military and foreign service and the legacy of their comrades and other veterans buried at Arlington National Cemetery,” as well as “degrade their personal experience” when traveling through and observing the area.
“Washington, D.C. as a city, was conceived and, in fact, functions in the way that America holds itself out to the world,” Scharf remarked as the meeting opened. “And I think that in light of that, the work that this Commission does is incredibly important, both to the City of Washington, D.C. and the region as it currently stands, and also to the expression of this nation’s history that this city often encompasses.”
While final design approval was not the goal of Thursday’s meeting, NCPC’s professional staff recommended several considerations, including site stormwater management and lighting plans, be addressed by the project team before they might bless the effort for construction. The staff, in particular, acknowledged its review would be more comprehensive after NCPC receives studies on impacts to the environment, historic preservation characteristic of D.C., and the existing traffic network and its level of service by vehicular and pedestrian traffic proposed to access the site.
While the chairman noted the NCPC was required to consider the Act, he argued that neither its intended zoning of local projects, nor the penalties imposed for resulting violations, apply to federal construction.
“On reflection, I find that NCPC’s position is a little odd to me from a legal perspective,” Scharf, who previously served as a lawyer for Trump, previewed after referencing a “very weird rabbit hole” of research he conducted relating to an issue frequently raised by critics and observers. “Traditionally, federal projects are not subject to local zoning requirements in that way for reasons of the Supremacy Clause and other aspects of our system of ordered federalism and separation of powers. To be to be sort of blunt, applying the Height of Buildings Act as mandatory would also raise serious issues of of sovereign immunity.”
Despite Scharf’s acknowledgement of various concerns and criticisms the proposed project has received — nearly all of the nearly 1,700 submitted comments being in opposition — the public comment period at times featured attendees’ heckling and other loud reactions to commissioners’ statements in support of the arch.
Statements made by veterans and their relatives — in addition to historic preservation and activist groups also in opposition to the president’s vision — however, received loud cheers and applause. Though the public was especially charged and attentive to the discussion, no one was removed by security or yelled profanity.
Scharf maintained order to expediently hear from the 30 registered speakers, addressing members of the observing public only when commissioner remarks were interrupted by their jeering, which he claimed was detrimental to their cause.
Danilo Augusto Feliciano, a veteran, invoked numerous Bible verses warning against the creation false idols and noted the word “indivisible” was missing from a selection of text from the Pledge of Allegiance proposed to be engraved on the arch.
“So when our government has a golden statue crafted and places the words ‘One Nation Under God’ beneath it, I have to wonder: to what God are they attempting to place the United States of America underneath?” he asked.
“No one needs this arch,” Jimi Shaughnessy, a Marine combat veteran, and the Veterans Program Manager at the National Parks Conservation Association, asked. “It’s inappropiate, unnecessary, insulting. It’s a waste of our land, time, and our money. If this president wants his own arch, he can sift through the rubble of the East Wing demolition piling up on the banks of the Potomac [River] and build one for himself.”
“For me, it’s not about right or wrong,” Ralph Nicks, a former Army hospital corpsman, stated. “It’s not about left or right. It’s not about the height. It’s not about whether Congress approved it or not. It’s about the people that’s in that Cemetery that cannot speak today because they died serving our country. And it’s about morals, it’s about respect and disrespect… Has anybody asked the families of these services members what they thought about this? This is a disgrace.”
“I’ve never protested for or against anything in my life, but now, at 76, I’m stepping forward,” Paul Anthony Romano III, a medic who executed medical evacuations in Vietnam, said. “Here today I stand in strong opposition to the building of the arch at Memorial Circle. It is nothing more than an ego arch to the current occupant of the White House. It’s a slap in the face to every veteran who is laid at rest, not only in Arlington but every national Cemetery around the world.”
Following the public comment period, the commissioners continued their deliberations by thanking the NCPC professional staff and project team for the detailed presentation and acknowledged additional details would need to be addressed in a future submission.
“The fact that the scale is so grand as part of the allure,” Commissioner James Blair, presently on leave from being Trump’s deputy chief of staff, began. “People are able to have different tastes and what they want to see with the the skyline of the City or otherwise. I think that on our nation’s 250th birthday, it’s a testament to how big our nation is and how great it is. And I hope that arch is standing a thousand years from now, should it be completed, which I certainly hope it will be.”
“The project team has some homework to do,” Scharf added in conclusion. “I think that it is fitting and proper to commemorate the 250th anniversary of our great republic with a suitable piece of monumental architecture … I think it cries out for something.”
The chairman spoke exclusively to the Daily Caller News Foundation following the end of the multi-hour meeting.
“I think this project is going to continue to develop obviously, we’ll see it come before us again,” Scharf said when asked about the nature of the criticism the pubkic raised against the arch project. “I think it’s just really important to note, though, historically, basically every time any new piece of construction of any new monument has been proposed in D.C., there’s been a certain element in the historic preservation community and the public that oppose any and all change. … I think it’s just very easy to be resistant to any change at all. It’s tougher to be constructive and productive.”
“I think an overwhelming majority of veterans in this country voted for the president,” he observed about the impassioned comments made by the veterans who attended the meeting. “I think he has tremendous support from the veterans community. I think the fact that 20 people came and expressed negative views shouldn’t be representative of the veteran community such as it is as a whole.”
The next NCPC meeting is scheduled for July 9.
Benedict Segrest contributed to the report.
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