"Arc de Trump" design approved for Washington DC
A monumental triumphal arch with a neoclassical structure devised by Atlanta-based studio Harrison Design has been approved for Washington DC, USA, by the Commission of Fine Arts.
The US Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), which reviews projects in the capital city and is staffed by US president Donald Trump-appointees, approved the design months after it was first proposed in October 2025.
Officially called the Triumphal Arch of Washington DC, it has been nicknamed the "Arc de Trump" – a play on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The DC scheme would be 250 feet tall (76 metres), nearly 100 feet (30 metres) taller than its Parisian counterpart.
It is set to be built on a traffic circle at the end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge on the south bank of the Potomac River.
Speaking to reporters after the approval, Trump cited his observation that Washington DC is the "only important and major city" without one as a justification for the project.
After an April review suggested the gilded angels at the top of the structure be removed, the final design still has the three figures on top of the arch, the tallest in the middle rising 60 feet (18 metres).
Golden lions featured on plinths in the April design initially reviewed by the CFA appear to have been removed. The gilt detailing on the top of the building and gilt letters spelling out One Nation Under God remain.
Plans revealed through the recent meeting show three levels of inhabitable space within the building, a lower level for ticketing, a gallery level and an observation deck, the latter two near the top of the structure.
In the design submissions from the review, before and after images with renderings of the arch inserted into real photography show the potential sightlines of the arch from various angles in the capital.
From the lawn of the Washington Monument facing the Lincoln Memorial, the gilt angels can be seen sticking up over the treeline in the distance.
"The intent of the arch is a celebration in America of 250 years of greatness, freedom, and posterity, for which we can only thank the wisdom of our founders and God's providence," said Nicolas Leo Charbonneau who leads the Sacred Architecture Studio at Harrison Design, according to the New York Times.
"While it may celebrate the victories of America in various theories of war and the sacrifice of our fallen heroes, it is not primarily monument dedicated to the dead, but to the living."
The monument is planned as part of the general celebrations of America's 250th anniversary.
The CFA's approval does not represent final approval of the design. It still needs to be reviewed by the National Capital Planning Commission, also primarily staffed by Trump appointees.
However, roadblocks to the project include lawsuits from veterans' associations citing visual disturbances to the nearby Arlington National Cemetery.
The arch is just one of Trump's decadent additions to the capital city. Currently, his planned White House ballroom is in the midst of a legal battle and earlier this week, the US Congress rejected a proposal to fund the project through security-oriented funding in a recent bill.
Trump is also in the process of repainting the Reflecting Pool bottom a blue colour, with renderings showing the final product having a resort-like blue glow. This project has also come under legal scrutiny.
The imagery is by Harrison Design via CFA.
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