President Trump stands near models of his arch during an October 2025 event with White House ballroom donors. The administration's proposed design and location for the structure have changed little since then.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
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There's widespread opposition to the 250-foot arch President Trump wants to build near the National Mall, which would tower over a historic area already packed with monuments.
This week, even Trump's own administration raised concerns. The National Park Service released a document listing 37 historic properties that it says would be adversely affected by the construction of an arch in Memorial Circle, a traffic roundabout just below Arlington National Cemetery.
"The significance of these properties derives not only from their individual architectural or commemorative importance, but also from their spatial, visual, symbolic, and ceremonial interrelationships," reads the report.
The National Park Service findings were released as part of an ongoing review process known as Section 106. Under this section of the National Historic Preservation Act, federal agencies must evaluate the impact their actions could have on any historic properties and try to minimize harm.
The assessment finds that an arch would interfere with dozens of historic sites in the area, particularly the key connection between the Lincoln Monument and Arlington House, the former home of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
"The bridge alignment and associated ceremonial landscape were intended to physically and symbolically unite North and South through a coordinated monumental composition extending across the Potomac River," the report reads.
The traffic circle where the arch would sit is right between the two landmarks. Critics say it would not only interfere with that view, but with the solemn atmosphere near the cemetery itself.
A group of Vietnam War veterans has already sued to stop the arch's construction, stating that it would be a visual affront and needs congressional approval, which Trump denies and has not sought.
The Trump administration wants to build its arch in Memorial Circle, a traffic island on the bridge between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
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The White House insists that Memorial Circle is an ideal place to locate the arch. In an email to NPR, it called the arch a "fitting addition to the monumental axis between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House." The administration has repeatedly stated that the arch will "enhance the visitor experience at Arlington National Cemetery."
This insistence frustrates Greg Werkheiser of the law firm, Cultural Heritage Partners, which is handling several lawsuits against the Trump administration's other D.C. construction projects.
"It's as if the president is saying: 'Only if I jam my arch between Arlington Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial and make it tower over everything else in the city will it be noticed,'" he said.
Preservationists say there are places in Washington, D.C., where an arch this size would impact far fewer historic properties.
"I think people are opposed to the absurdity of locating an arch this size and of this design in the middle of what is almost a civil sacred landscape," Werkheiser said. "I think had he chosen an alternative, not only would some of the folks who are opponents now not be opponents, but I think they would be supporters."