Trump says Arlington arch will store drones and sniper ammunition

President Donald Trump said on Sunday, Sept. 20, he had agreed to convert his proposed 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery into a military complex holding drones, sniper positions and stores of sniper ammunition, citing a request from the U.S. military.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had agreed, "at the strong request of the United States Military, and for National Security purposes," to convert the structure into a "top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch." It would "house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas," he wrote.

The post also described storage for "large quantities of sniper ammunition." It did not name a threat or say which part of the military requested the change. A Pentagon spokesperson told NBC News the department had "nothing additional to provide beyond the post," and the White House declined to give the network further information.

What the record says

Federal planning documents describe the structure as a commemorative monument at Memorial Circle, where the Arlington Memorial Bridge meets Memorial Avenue. The administration has said the arch marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, CBS News reported. The Park Service calls the site a ceremonial gateway to Arlington National Cemetery.

The administration acknowledged on Aug. 28 that the arch would have "adverse effects" on the setting and views along the Potomac River, ABC News reported, while saying those impacts "cannot be fully avoided" because the location is "central to the undertaking."

The Park Service's 133-page report identified the National Mall, the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, the Georgetown Historic District, the Old Naval Observatory, Key Bridge and the National Cathedral among the places whose visual setting would be affected, and said the arch would break the symbolic sightline between the Lincoln Memorial, Memorial Bridge and Arlington House. It concluded that the location was "historically appropriate."

More than 100,000 people submitted comments to the National Park Service during review periods in June and July, NPR reported.

Approvals already in hand

The Commission of Fine Arts approved the concept on April 16 and the final design on May 21, and the commission is now composed of the president's allies, whom he appointed in January after firing its previous members in October 2025. The National Capital Planning Commission, which is led by Trump appointees, approved preliminary site and building plans in July. It has not issued final approval for the construction plan.

How Sunday's announcement affects those approvals is unclear, NBC News reported, and the Park Service has not issued the final agency action that would authorize construction.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced on Sept. 3 that the administration was preparing to begin excavation "over the next two-week period" for what he called the "Great Triumphal Arch and Military Observation Deck, at Memorial Circle on Columbia Island between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery." The wait, he wrote, had run more than 125 years.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered in April that the administration give the court 14 days' notice before any construction begins. An order this month requires 48 hours' notice before any activity at Memorial Circle other than archaeological survey work, and warns that construction or demolition before the Park Service issues final authorization would violate the court. Chutkan issued it the day after Burgum's post.

The veterans' motion

Attorneys for the veterans asked Chutkan on Sept. 4 for a temporary restraining order to stop the excavation. The course of action Burgum had announced "is unlawful many times over," they wrote, citing the absence of congressional authorization and the lack of the 14 days' notice the judge had ordered. Their motion pointed to the demolition of the White House East Wing, which happened before courts could weigh in.

The Justice Department told the court the work Burgum described is "not construction, or demolition in preparation for construction, of an arch." A Park Service official said in a filing that it is "a standard predecisional, information-gathering technique used to plan for potential construction projects and ensure compliance with statutes such as the National Historic Preservation Act," involving four test pits, with digging to begin no sooner than Sept. 21 and run through the end of October.

The lawsuit was brought by three Vietnam veterans, Michael Lemmon, Shaun Byrnes and Jon Gundersen, with the architectural historian Calder Loth. They argue the arch would obstruct the alignment designed more than a century ago between the Lincoln Memorial, Memorial Bridge and Arlington House.

The plaintiffs also say the arch cannot be built without authorization from Congress. The administration's case rests on a 1925 congressional authorization for a pair of 166-foot columns at the same site, which were never built. Nicolas Sansone, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, with the Public Citizen Litigation Group, told Fox News Digital that the authorization cannot reasonably be read to cover a different and far costlier project today.

The ballroom precedent

Sunday's post was the second time Trump has described a contested Washington construction project as a national security matter. In an August Supreme Court filing he said the White House ballroom, which he had said was needed to host events, was required to build a "highly integrated military complex that incorporates a classical, but highly secured, ballroom and crucial national-security facilities."

The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued over the ballroom, arguing Trump could not undertake the project unilaterally. The Supreme Court ruled at the end of August that the administration could move forward indefinitely, finding the trust likely lacked standing. The trust told the justices last month that Trump was racing to finish the work "to try to outrun judicial review."

In early April, the White House told a federal appeals court the project was "necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House and its grounds." Weeks later, in April, a gunman stormed a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, and Trump renewed his calls for a White House event space. The dinner is hosted by the association, not the White House.

The structure and its site

The arch would stand 250 feet tall on a traffic island at Memorial Circle, across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial, nearly 90 feet taller than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the monument it was modeled after. The main structure accounts for about 165 feet, with a pedestal, a winged figure and two gilded eagles making up the rest. Plans call for granite cladding, three golden statues and an observation deck.

Other work in the capital

Trump has made Washington-area construction a priority in his second term, NBC News reported. Besides the ballroom and the arch, he moved to renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and added a White House helipad. He has also pushed to fix fountains in the capital.

After the Reflecting Pool renovation, chunks of the pool's new coating floated to the surface and the water turned green with algae, and Trump repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that vandalism caused the damage.

Trump's post said the arch had been "planned since the Civil War Era many years ago." The Arlington Memorial Bridge was dedicated in 1932 and was designed as a symbolic link between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House, which the Park Service describes as representing the reunification of North and South after the Civil War.

Washington, he wrote, is the only one of the world's "59 top cities and Capitals" that does not have a triumphal arch, and the one now planned will be "by far, the greatest of them all."

Drones in the landing path

The Federal Aviation Administration determined on Friday, Sept. 18, that the arch poses no hazard to flights coming into and departing from the nearby airport, despite concerns from Democratic lawmakers that the project would further complicate an already complex airspace, CBS News reported. The finding can be petitioned until Oct. 18 and becomes final on Oct. 28. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., whose district includes Arlington National Cemetery and adjoins the proposed site, criticized the plan in a post on X.

Putting a drone launching site directly in the landing path for DCA is a stupid, dangerous, and unworkable idea

Trump's post did not say whether the changed plans would return to the commissions that approved the earlier design, or when the drone and sniper facilities would be built. The administration has told the court it will give at least 14 days' notice if the Park Service authorizes construction.