Work to start on Trump gilded arch, says top official
Excavation work will begin on US President’s Donald Trump’s gilded 76 metre arch in Washington DC during the next two weeks, a senior government official says.
While the arch is a pet project of the president, some critics have launched a lawsuit in an attempt to block its construction.
A new artistic mock-up of US President Donald Trump’s planned gilded arch. US Interior Department/X
On Thursday (Friday AEST), US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the green light for its groundbreaking work in an X post.
“This will be one of the Great Pieces of American Architecture,” Burgum wrote, “befitting the most powerful Capital in the World.”
In addition to the announcement, Burgum posted artistic illustrations of the planned memorial arch, which will stand between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
The renderings showed a towering, white arch with gold detail, stamped with “ONE NATION UNDER GOD.” On its top is a Lady Liberty-like gold figure with wings and a torch, as well as gold eagles, their wings spread outward.
The proposed arch bears a striking resemblance to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the famous monument at the end of the Champs-Élysées honouring those who fought for France during the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars.
A model of President Donald Trump’s proposed Triumphal Arch was erected at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, in June. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The design of the arch, put forward by Trump, has already received early approval from the US Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were all appointed by the president.
The National Capital Area Planning Commission gave it the preliminary green light in July, but is scheduled to discuss it again during coming weeks.
The planned arch is among several architectural projects championed by Trump to preserve his legacy when he leaves office. Others include the renaming and renovating the Kennedy Center, building a huge new White House ballroom, refurbishing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and rebuilding a golf course in East Potomac Park.
But a lawsuit launched by three veterans and an architectural historian argues approval from Congress is needed for the arch to be erected.
“We believe that construction cannot and should not proceed apace, and we are prepared to inform the court that it needs to, at this juncture, needs to step in,” said Nicolas Sansone, a lawyer from Public Citizen Litigation Group representing the plaintiffs.
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