Commission of Fine Arts Approves Trump’s Controversial Triumphal Arch Celebrating ‘Greatness, Freedom, and Posterity’
The US Commission of Fine Arts approved President Donald Trump’s proposal for a 250-foot-tall triumphal arch modeled on Paris’s Arc de Triomphe, planned for Memorial Circle in Arlington, Virginia, near Arlington National Cemetery. Trump first announced the idea at a holiday party last December and said domestic policy chief Vince Haley should prioritize it, while architect Nicolas Leo Charbonneau of Harrison Design said the arch would celebrate “250 years of greatness, freedom, and posterity.” The plan drew objections from veterans and preservationists, including National Trust for Historic Preservation deputy general counsel Elizabeth Merritt, who warned the monument’s location, height, scale, and design would dominate a “living memorial” that hosts hundreds of funerals each month. The approved design includes golden eagles and a winged angel, elements the commission had initially suggested removing to reduce the monument’s size. All seven commission members were appointed by Trump between January 8 and January 27, 2026, after he dismissed the Biden-appointed commissioners in October 2025 ahead of a review of another project, a proposed White House ballroom.
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This story was covered in Auction Fever, Museums in the Crossfire