The president has called it an “arc.” Others, such as the rest of the English-speaking world, refer to it as an “arch.”
Whatever you choose to call Donald Trump’s latest vanity project, construction crews will soon break ground on the bigliest and most beautiful monument ever in the history of America, the Great Triumphal Arch.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum made the announcement Thursday on social media:
“After a very long wait (over 125 years!), we are preparing to start, over the next two-week period, the excavation work necessary for Great Triumphal Arch and Military Observation Deck,” he wrote. “This will be one of the Great Pieces of American Architecture, honoring the history and significance of Arlington Cemetery and befitting the most powerful Capital in the World.”
Occupying the sacred space between Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, the Great Triumphal Arch will stand 250 feet tall, two and half times taller than Lincoln’s memorial and big enough to obscure views of the cemetery.
And because size matters, it will be nearly 90 feet taller than Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, which was built by order of Napoleon Bonaparte and dedicated to the soldiers who fought and won victories alongside him.
Trump has not fought in a war that involves actual combat, though he (and Israel) did start one. After six months, it’s still not clear why we’re there or who’s winning, so it’s unlikely that D.C.’s arch-to-be will be dedicated to our glorious victory over Iran.
When CBS News asked who the arch is for, Trump said, “Me.” He’s also said the reason he’s pushed to build the monument is because “something’s supposed to be here.” “They have 57 cities throughout the world that have them,” Trump said. “We’re the only ones that don’t.” He added that Washington has waited 200 years for the structure, adding 75 years to Burgum’s estimate.
Two hundred years is a long time to go without a gargantuan, costly arch in D.C.’s Memorial Circle. Americans are tough and have endured the hardship, and now, we’ll finally get our just deserts. The payoff is a vanity project like no other, except maybe Saddam Hussein’s commissioned Victory Arch of swords in Baghdad, or Kim Il Sung’s North Korean Mansu Hill Grand Monument.
The Great Triumphal Arch is estimated to cost at least $100 million, with some estimates reaching up to $250 million. A mix of taxpayer funds and private donations is expected to pay for the project, according to administration officials. The aim is to complete construction before the end of the presidential term, making it more difficult for incoming President Gavin Newsom or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to justify knocking it down.
The arch joins a list of Trump “beatification” projects. Most notable is the White House State Ballroom, which is currently being erected where the historic East Wing of the White House used to stand. Initially the administration said the ballroom would cost $200 million, none of which would come from taxpayers’ money. The Washington Post reported in June that the project would cost $600 million, with more than half coming from taxpayers.
If all of us pull together and work 60 hours a week, our taxed wages could help make Trump’s ballroom dream a reality before he terms out. And the Triumphant Arch won’t pay for itself, or Trump’s vision of topping it with a golden, winged Lady Liberty statue, flanked by two golden eagles. Don’t worry. There’s still time to look for a second job if you’re not making enough at your main gig to prop up The Arch.
Not everyone is happy with the fast-tracked building of a gargantuan monument to an unpopular president.
A group of Vietnam War veterans has sued to stop construction, citing the lack of congressional approval for the project and arguing that the arch would obstruct the view between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
The Trump administration has said that it does not need congressional approval, pointing to a 1925 plan authorized by Congress to build columns close to the proposed arch site as proof that they don’t need further legislative oversight.
It’s also been reported that an FAA review of The Arch’s potential impact on flights has not been completed.
Representative Donald S. Beyer Jr., a Virginia Democrat whose district includes the nearby Arlington National Cemetery, said in a statement Thursday that Trump and Burgum were “disregarding the risks and rushing this towering monument to Trump’s vanity because they believe Republicans will get crushed in November.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” The arch is not long, but it’s expensive and intrusive, and it bends toward Trump’s vanity.
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