<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">If President Trump gets his wish, a new triumphal arch will rise on a Washington roundabout across from the Lincoln Memorial to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary next year.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Trump showed models of the proposed arch at a White House fund-raising dinner on Wednesday for another of his pet projects, a new White House ballroom. He brought out models of an arched structure with two eagles and a golden, winged angel on top, somewhat resembling the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Mr. Trump said the angel was Lady Liberty.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The arch would stand on Memorial Circle at the end of Arlington Memorial Bridge on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, which is within the bounds of Washington, D.C. “Every time somebody rides over that beautiful bridge right to the Lincoln Memorial, it’s so beautiful, they literally say, ‘Something is supposed to be here,’” Mr. Trump said at the dinner, which was <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/politics/trump-white-house-dinner-ballroom-donors.html" title="">attended by corporate executives</a> and donors for the ballroom.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Trump thanked the donors for their “generous” contributions, and said there might be some money left over that could help finance the arch. “We’ll use that probably maybe for the arch or something else that will come, but we love to fix up Washington,” he said.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The White House did not immediately respond to a request for more information on the arch, including on its funding and when construction would begin and finish. It was also unclear whether the design was approved by the National Capital Planning Commission, which reviews designs for federal monuments. The commission has been <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.ncpc.gov/default.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">closed</a> because of the ongoing government shutdown.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Trump <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115353640080693628" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">posted</a> an image of the proposed arch Saturday on social media. The same illustration <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://x.com/nic_charbonneau/status/1963603279658602674" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">was shared</a> last month by Nicolas Leo Charbonneau, a D.C.-based architect at the firm Harrison Design. Mr. Charbonneau said in the post, “A proposal for a triumphal arch in DC for #America250.”</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Triumphal arches have long been erected to celebrate notable figures or significant events, dating back to ancient Romans, who used them to honor emperors or victorious generals, said Jason Montgomery, an architect and urban designer based in Washington, D.C.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">In the United States, triumphal arches include the Washington Arch at Washington Square Park in Manhattan, which commemorates the centennial of former President George Washington’s 1789 inauguration, and the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, which commemorates Union soldiers who died during the Civil War.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Montgomery said the design, location and decision to erect a triumphal arch to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States “seem reasonable,” but that it should represent all Americans in this “very polarized moment.”</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-3"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-2"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">“Every American who comes to Washington D.C. and explores all the monuments should come to this new monument and feel that it’s speaking to their values,” said Mr. Montgomery, who is an associate professor of urban design at the Catholic University of America.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">He added, “It would be ironic if those values are not represented in this monument and those values are not carried forward after this monument is built.”</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The president’s plan for the triumphal arch comes as he seeks to bring a more lavish and gilded touch to the White House, and remake the landscape of the nation’s capital.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Trump unveiled plans in July for his $200 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom off the East Wing, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/us/politics/trump-white-house-ballroom-renovations-concerns.html" title="">raising concerns from preservation experts</a> over the feasibility of completing such a large-scale project by the end of his term while respecting the building’s historic nature. Earlier this year, he <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/us/politics/mar-a-lago-trump-grass-rose-garden.html" title="">paved over the White House Rose Garden</a>, which sits just outside the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room, in a style that resembled a patio at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The White House has exerted more control over the design and planning of federal architecture in recent months, eyeing plans for the redevelopment of southwestern Washington.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-5"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-3"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Trump has pursued a goal of <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/arts/design/trump-executive-order-architecture-federal-buildings.html" title="">“making federal architecture beautiful again,”</a> signing an executive order in August that requires federal buildings in Washington to maintain a classical style of Greco-Roman architecture associated with the marble columns and austere hallways of the Supreme Court and U.S. Capitol.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Montgomery urged the administration to hold a “national conversation” before starting construction of the triumphal arch, noting that the monument would belong to the American people. “We are the legacy of this 250 years of history.”</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Trump suggested he saw it differently.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">When asked on Wednesday who the arch was for, Mr. Trump said, “Me.”</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div>