Memorial Circle arch

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Memorial Circle arch
Memorial Circle arch.svg
One of the proposed designs
Memorial Circle arch
Interactive map of Memorial Circle arch
LocationWashington, D.C.
Coordinates 38°53′8″N77°3′36″W / 38.88556°N 77.06000°W / 38.88556; -77.06000
TypeTriumphal arch

The Memorial Circle arch is a proposed triumphal arch which would be located on Columbia Island in Washington, D.C. [1] The site is a traffic circle on Memorial Drive between the end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge and Arlington National Cemetery named Memorial Circle. It is directly across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial at the west end of the National Mall. [2] [3]

Contents

Memorial Circle arch Map.svg
ArlingtonMemorialBridgeEast.jpg
Memorial Circle in the foreground looking east over the Arlington Memorial Bridge

Proposed by President Donald Trump, some media have referred to the arch as the "Arc de Trump" (a play on Arc de Triomphe). [1] [2] [3] The arch would celebrate the United States Semiquincentennial.

Background

Duncan G. Stroik, an architectural professor at the University of Notre Dame, noted after being appointed in 2019 to the United States Commission on Fine Arts by President Donald Trump, that the traffic circle should have something in the middle of it. As a gateway to Washington, DC, the large traffic circle should have something that "would be very noteworthy — and it should be beautiful”. He said that the America’s 250th anniversary presented an opportunity that could be fulfilled by a triumphal arch. [2]

In an April 2025 article titled "Washington Needs an Arch", in the conservative publication The American Mind , art critic Catesby Leigh detailed the impact that an arch would have on the axis of monuments on the National Mall. Leigh also observed that Washington D.C. is the "only major Western capital without a monumental arch." [4]

Development

On October 15, 2025, Trump showed reporters in the Oval Office a model sitting on his desk of a proposed arch he wished to build. CBS reporter Ed O'Keefe asked him "Who is it for?" Trump replied, "Me. It's going to be beautiful." O'Keefe then asked if it would be called "The Arc de Trump?", a nickname that was immediately adopted by the media. [1] [5]

Later that evening, guests were shown three differently scaled models of the arch at a dinner in the White House's East Room for donors to the ballroom expansion to the White House, [6] the largest of which would reportedly dwarf the iconic structures closest to it, including the Lincoln Memorial. [7] The large arch, which Anastasia Tsioulcas, writing for NPR, said was evocative of the neoclassical style favored by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, would be surmounted by two eagles and a golden winged figure, [7] [8] which was described by Trump as representing Lady Liberty. [9]

During the aformentioned dinner, Trump stated construction of the arch would be completed in time for the 250th anniversary of the United States. He also said that it was "fully financed", and that some of the funds left over from the ballroom project would be used to fund the arch. [3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Watson, Kathryn (October 16, 2025). "Arc de Trump? President shows off model of Independence Arch, says "it's going to be really beautiful"". CBS News . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Diamond, Dan (October 10, 2025). "Trump eyes a triumphal arch to mark America's 250th anniversary". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286.
  3. 1 2 3 Saad, Nardine (October 16, 2025). "What we know about White House plans for an 'Arc de Trump'". BBC News. Archived from the original on October 16, 2025. Retrieved October 28, 2025.
  4. ↑ Leigh, Catesby (April 2, 2025). "Washington Needs an Arch". The American Mind . Retrieved October 11, 2025.
  5. ↑ Sutherland, Callum (October 16, 2025). "The 'Arc de Trump': President Shows Off Plans For His Latest Grandiose D.C. Construction Project". Time . Archived from the original on October 28, 2025. Retrieved October 28, 2025.
  6. ↑ Kanno-Youngs, Zolan (October 16, 2025). "Trump Hosts Dinner for Wealthy Donors to White House Ballroom". The New York Times .
  7. 1 2 Tsioulcas, Anastasia (October 16, 2025). "President Trump envisions D.C. arch to mark 250th anniversary of U.S." NPR . Retrieved October 17, 2025. Journalists leaving an Oval Office event Wednesday asked the president who the proposed arch would be built for. He replied: 'Me.'"
  8. ↑ Bickerton, James (October 10, 2025). "Proposed Trump monument next to Lincoln Memorial seen in White House photos". Newsweek . Archived from the original on October 10, 2025.
  9. ↑ Kavi, Aishvarya (October 21, 2025). "What to Know About Trump's Plan for a Triumphal Arch". The New York Times.
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