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The Mall

Trump’s arch: drones, snipers, ammunition. He called it national security.

Two hundred and fifty feet. Memorial Circle. The military asked, he said. Veterans are in court.

The Rocket News · Washington Bureau · WashingtonSeptember 20, 2026 · 5 min read

President Trump grayscale, red necktie in color; Arlington Memorial Bridge and the Lincoln Memorial in color. Portada plate, Sunday morning, Sept. 20, 2026.
President Trump grayscale, red necktie in color; Arlington Memorial Bridge and the Lincoln Memorial in color. Portada plate, Sunday morning, Sept. 20, 2026.

President Trump posted it on Truth Social on Sunday morning: the 250-foot triumphal arch at Memorial Circle, between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, will be a “top grade Military Complex.” Drones. Snipers on the roof and the plaza. Ammunition in storage. “At the strong request of the United States Military, and for National Security purposes.” The Politics desk files a monument that is now a firing position, twice the height of Lincoln, on a Sunday he spent selling it as security.

More than 100,000 comments went to the National Park Service. Vietnam veterans and an architectural historian are in court; Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered 48 hours’ notice before any work on the circle. Critics say Congress has to approve it. Trump: Washington is the only capital among 59 without a triumphal arch, and this will be “by far, the greatest of them all.” He has said the arch is for him. The ballroom was national security too.

There will be no facility like this anywhere in the World.

Video

Retired general calls Trump's proposed arch near Arlington a 'sacrilege' · PBS NewsHour · Watch on PBS NewsHour

The Politics desk files Sunday as it is: an arch that stores ammunition, a cemetery at one end of the bridge, and a president who found a military reason for the stone.

Wire and further reading: npr.org

Filed under Politics

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