President Donald Trump’s biggest justification for his towering arch near Arlington National Cemetery is missing from the final blueprints, a new report says.
Final plans posted by the National Capital Planning Commission make no reference to drones, snipers or ammunition storage that Trump promised would turn the 250-foot structure into a “top grade” military complex, The Washington Post reported. The documents, supplied by the Interior Department, instead lay out tourist visits and other ceremonial uses for the monument.
A White House official, granted anonymity to discuss the ongoing project, pushed back on the idea that Trump had changed course. The official said the administration had no plans to release national security details about the arch at this point in the review process.
Interior Department spokesperson Katie Martin told The Post in an email that the arch as designed “is capable of accommodating the national security functions” Trump touted in his Truth Social post. The Pentagon sent questions back to the White House.
Trump announced the military plans on Sept. 20, prompting alarm from aviation safety experts, local officials and advocacy groups. The arch would sit close to Reagan National Airport, and experts have cautioned that drones launched from it would add risk to some of the busiest airspace in the country.
According to The Post, Trump administration officials later told advocates in a meeting that they did not know of any concrete plans to make the arch a military site.
The commission, which Trump has packed with allies, could approve the project at a Nov. 5 hearing. Its synopsis lists a few updates, such as turning the torch held by a Lady Liberty statue atop the arch into an “eternal flame,” along with changes to lighting and traffic. But the commission added that “no other plan elements have changed.”
Preservationists argue that militarizing the arch would trigger a fresh round of scrutiny. “A new or supplemental review would be required,” DC Preservation League Executive Director Rebecca Miller wrote to the Trump administration last month.
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