On Wednesday, President Trump showed off plans for a major new monument to be potentially added to Washington, D.C.: a grand, classically styled arch topped with eagles and a gilded, winged statue that suggests Victory.
A watercolor rendition of the proposed arch posted online last month by architect Nicolas Leo Charbonneau of Harrison Design, and reposted by the president on his Truth Social account, shows a monument that bears strong aesthetic similarities to Paris' Arc de Triomphe and the Soldiers and Sailors' Memorial Arch in Brooklyn. (Wags have already dubbed the proposed monument from the former real estate developer the "Arc de Trump.") The renderings also evoke the neoclassical architectural style favored by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
Journalists leaving an Oval Office event Wednesday asked the president who the proposed arch would be built for. He replied: "Me."
On Wednesday evening, at a fundraising dinner in the East Room to benefit his planned $250 million ballroom addition to the White House, the president displayed three differently scaled models of the possible arch – the largest of which would appear to dwarf nearby iconic, existing structures, including the Lincoln Memorial.
"Whichever one would look good. I happen to think the large one," he said.
The proposed arch, which is being discussed as a commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary next year, would be located in a traffic circle between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.
The design of any new federal building or memorial is supposed to be approved by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which is currently closed due to the government shutdown.
NPR reached out for comment to the White House, including regarding the CFA's potential involvement and a timeline for construction. The White House referred NPR back to the president's comments at the Oval Office and the fundraising dinner on Wednesday.
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blair.
Copyright 2025 NPR
