Rendering of the plan of the 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington, DC
Courtesy: Harrison Design | US Commission of Fine Arts
New architectural drawings President Donald Trump’s controversial proposed “Triumphal Arch” released Friday shows a 250-foot structure standing across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.
Images, courtesy of Harrison Design Commission of Fine Arts The proposal, before that April 16 meeting of free agency, shows a large white structure topped with a gilded statue of Lady Liberty and the words “One Nation Under God.”
Four golden lions surround the arch at its base.
According to its renderings, the arch would be more than twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial. Trump told reporters earlier this year that the arch would be “the most beautiful in the world.”
The memorial, which Trump has teased for the past year, is to be built at Memorial Circle, an intersection near Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia that leads to Downtown DC.
Rendering of the plan of the 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington, DC
Courtesy: Harrison Design | US Commission of Fine Arts
These renderings are the first official plans filed by the Trump administration for the arch, one of several projects aimed at commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this summer.
“For 200 years, they’ve wanted to build an arch,” Trump told reporters on February 1.
“About 57 cities around the world have triumphal arches, and Washington, D.C. — the only major city — still doesn’t have one,” he said.
On February 2, the President posted a photo on social media showing the India Gate, with the message: “India’s beautiful triumphal arch. Ours will be the greatest of them all!”
Tourists walk near India Gate in New Delhi, India. India Gate was built in memory of the more than 90,000 Indian soldiers who lost their lives during the Afghan War and World War I.
Saqib Majeed Sopa Images | LightRocket via Getty Images
Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., criticized the Ark Project in a social media post on Friday.
“While Americans worry about skyrocketing costs and another endless war, President Trump is focused on a taxpayer-funded vanity project that will choke traffic, block our skyline, and plant towers on sacred ground where those who served our country are buried, including my own parents and sister,” Baer wrote in his post on BlueSky.
“This is not about America’s 250th or honoring our veterans,” Baer wrote. “This is about Donald Trump’s ego — and we’re going to stop it.”
The Commission of Fine Arts, which will consider the proposal, is filled with Trump allies.
The agency approved the president’s $400 million, 90,000-square-foot White House in February ballroom renovation.
A federal judge in Washington, DC, blocked the ballroom renovation on March 31, saying that no law “comes close” to giving Trump the legal authority to build such a structure at the White House without Congress’s permission.
News outlet NOTUS reported The Trump administration this week announced plans to use taxpayer money to pay for the arch. According to the National Endowment for the Humanities fiscal year 2026 spending plan$2 million in special initiative funds and $13 million in matching funds are reserved for the project.
Vietnam War veterans and a historian filed a lawsuit in February in U.S. District Court in Washington to stop construction of the arch, arguing it would obstruct views of the Vietnam War and Lincoln monuments from Arlington National Cemetery.
Judge Tanya Chutkan last week declined to issue a preliminary injunction that would block the arches.MS Now reported.