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Trump's Next Project: A Familiar-Looking Arch

President displays model for proposed monument at dinner for ballroom donors
Posted Oct 16, 2025 4:56 PM CDT
Trump Reveals Plans for an 'Independence Arch'
Guests listen as President Trump addresses a dinner for donors who have contributed to build the new ballroom at the White House on Wednesday.   (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

Wealthy donors who made the White House ballroom that's under construction possible were given a preview of President Trump's next capital project on Wednesday night: a grand arch that borrows from Paris' Arc de Triomphe. Trump unveiled models of the proposed monument at a White House dinner, CBS News reports, saying: "It's going to be really beautiful. I think it's going to be fantastic." He did not say how much such an arch might cost. Models were made in three sizes; Trump said he prefers the largest. Asked who the arch is for, the president pointed to himself, saying "Me."

He did say where he wants it built: on the Arlington, Virginia, side of the Memorial Bridge, between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, to welcome people to Washington. The models, now on display in the Oval Office, are labeled "Independence Arch." Trump, who posted a rendering of the arch topped by Lady Liberty, wants it completed in time for the 250th anniversary of the republic next year. He told the donors that some of their leftover money from the ballroom project would go toward the arch, per the BBC.

This is not the first time an arch has been envisioned for the site, and Trump said at the dinner that something was supposed to go there. An unrealized 1902 National Park Service plan called for a triumphal arch honoring Ulysses Grant. The Arlington Memorial Bridge, which opened in 1932, serves as the ceremonial gateway to Washington, DC. It features the neoclassical design elements preferred by Trump. Some of the largest US corporations were represented at the dinner, per USA Today, including Lockheed Martin, Palantir, Alphabet's Google, Meta, and Amazon.

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