Trump administration officials said Tuesday that they were unaware of specific plans to convert President Donald Trump’s planned triumphal arch into a military complex, more than a week after Trump announced plans to put snipers, drones and ammunition at the site.
Senior officials at the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) and the National Park Service told advocacy groups that they were proceeding with existing plans for the arch’s design and features, including that it will be open to tourists, according to three people with knowledge of the remarks.
The officials also told the groups that the administration had received no additional information from the Defense Department about militarizing the project, the people said.
Administration officials met with the advocates as part of a required process to evaluate the planned arch’s harm on nearby historic sites. Trump officials are hoping to build the 250-foot-tall arch in Memorial Circle, a traffic roundabout tucked inside Washington’s boundaries and near Arlington National Cemetery.
Spokespeople for ACHP and the Interior Department, which oversees the Park Service, did not immediately respond to questions about the meeting.
Trump on Sept. 20 said on Truth Social that the arch would be converted into a “military complex” that would “house, store, and have the rapid ability to use 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.”
Trump did not explain what security need might be served by adding weaponry to the proposed arch, which would be near existing military installations.
Trump has repeatedly invoked military and national security needs to expedite his construction projects and other priorities, including his planned White House ballroom. Administration officials are hoping to begin construction on the arch as soon as November.
In this case, however, the addition of military features could complicate the plans. Veterans groups, historic preservationists and local advocates who have urged Trump to move, shrink or halt the project, say Trump’s plan to militarize the arch would mean beginning a new process to analyze its impact on nearby sites.
“A new or supplemental review would be required,” Rebecca Miller, the executive director of the DC Preservation League, wrote Tuesday to the administration. The letter was shared with The Washington Post.
Democrats have signaled that they will seek to delay or stop the project if they regain control of one or both chambers of Congress after November’s midterm elections.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees money for federal parks, on Monday night introduced legislation to deny funding for planning or construction of the arch at Memorial Circle. Merkley asked senators to immediately pass the measure by unanimous consent, meaning that a single lawmaker could block the bill. The effort was blocked by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a staunch Trump ally.
“The Trump Arch is a monumentally bad idea, and it is abundantly clear there is no authorization from Congress for this massive arch,” Merkley said in a statement after his bill was blocked.
Preservationists have criticized the administration for moving to terminate a required consultation process with local advocates and pushing forward with plans to build the arch.
Elizabeth Merritt, deputy general counsel of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, urged Trump officials to set aside a “substantial mitigation fund” that could be used to change or even tear down the project.
“The mitigation fund should be kept available for future demolition of the Arch, and the amount of the fund should be sufficient to cover that cost,” she wrote Tuesday. The letter was shared with The Post.
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