Trump wants to build a 250-foot-tall arch, dwarfing the Lincoln Memorial

[demmiblue]

Source: WaPo

The White House stands about 70 feet tall. The Lincoln Memorial, roughly 100 feet. The triumphal arch President Donald Trump wants to build would eclipse both if he gets his wish.

Trump has grown attached to the idea of a 250-foot-tall structure overlooking the Potomac River, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe his comments, a scale that has alarmed some architectural experts who initially supported the idea of an arch but expected a far smaller one.

The planned Independence Arch is intended to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary. Built to Trump’s specifications, it would transform a small plot of land between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery into a dominant new monument, reshaping the relationship between the two memorials and obstructing pedestrians’ views.

Trump has considered smaller versions of the arch, including 165-foot-high and 123-foot-high designs he shared at a dinner last year. But he has favored the largest option, arguing that its sheer size would impress visitors to Washington, and that ‘250 for 250’ makes the most sense, the people said.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/01/31/trump-arch-memorial-circle/

---

New at @washingtonpost.com:

Trump wants to build a *250-ft-tall arch*, for America’s 250th anniversary

The structure would tower over nearby memorials — changing DC’s skyline and blocking views of the Lincoln Memorial

It’s also spooking experts who say it’s just too big

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond.bsky.social) 2026-01-31T13:00:33.647Z

I spoke with the art critic, Catesby Leigh, who proposed original idea — a 60-ft temporary arch.

Trump has enlarged it and plans to make it permanent, alarming Leigh and others who say it threatens DC vista and history

@hannahdormido.bsky.social @timmeko.bsky.social show how views would change

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond.bsky.social) 2026-01-31T14:01:26.473Z

Another visualization to show just how large the new Independence Arch would be, if Trump gets his way and installs it in a traffic circle between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery

with @hannahdormido.bsky.social @timmeko.bsky.social

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond.bsky.social) 2026-01-31T14:13:23.709Z

[twodogsbarking]

1. Just buy him an inflatable one. He likes inflatable things he can hump.

[maspaha]

22. That is the answer...A gold plated inflatable!

[QueerDuck]

2. It gives me shivers... it's quite Nazi-like in its scope and appearance... I hate it.

[Vinca]

3. Oh, FFS. Trump seems to be making up for a deficit in another department.

[Autumn]

4. Well I want him to die. He doesn't deserve any monument unless it a receptance

for holding bags of dog shit.

[ancianita]

5. Not a core duty of his office. So he won't win in court when the National Parks Service denies his Nazi project.

[Historic NY]

6. That spot is already a major Cluster F--k with traffic

There has been constant construction along that stretch of the parkway also. Right now coming across the Arlington Bridge you can see the LM which seems to be always being worked on. The area is constantly filled with tourist bus's and commuter traffic.


https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8882607,-77.0563206,15.88z?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDEyOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D]

[underpants]

7. "Built to Trump's specifications" This has Stonehenge written all over it

[electric_blue68]

23. That had to be one of the funniest scenes! TY

😄 😄 😄👍

[Chemical Bill]

40. Hopefully the napkin he draws the plans on...

will have 250"....

[defacto7]

8. It's the the insanity of Caligula

and the narcissism of Nero and Commodus all rolled into one.

[orangecrush]

30. Well put.

[IronLionZion]

9. He should instead build an ark, like Noah's, and sail off into the sunset

the Ark de Trump

Why would he want something so French?

[Fla Dem]

10. Ye Gods. I rarely if ever, wish bad stuff on people, but I'm ready to make an exception.

[cstanleytech]

11. Trump's favorite arch is still McDonald's double one.

[sinkingfeeling]

12. This must somehow be stopped.

[graycampervan]

26. Stopped

Why won't anyone try to stop him? What is the matter with the Democrats? The country will never recover from what has already been done.

[orangecrush]

31. It will stop

When there isn't enough money to stop us.

[dalton99a]

13. He should build a 1,000-ft pyramid for himself and a smaller 500-ft pyramid for the sex worker

[cyndensco]

14. It is hard/impossible to believe the asshole would call it simply the Independence Arch.

He puts his f*cking name on everything.


Make him STOP!!!

[FakeNoose]

15. The Gateway Arch in Saint Louis was built to commemorate the 150th anniversary

... of the founding of the city. Completed in 1967, it took 2 and 1/2 years to build along the banks of the Mississippi River. It doesn't straddle the river though, it towers over the river and city and allows visitors to look eastward into Illinois and westward into Missouri for several miles each way. The Arch stands 630 feet high and 630 feet wide, and there are cable cars that go to the top observation chamber on certain days. The Gateway Arch has come to symbolize Saint Louis as the "Gateway to the West."



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_Arch

If Chump had any sense of history, he'd suggest something like the Gateway Arch as a symbol for our 250th anniversary, but it's too much to expect like that from him.

[electric_blue68]

24. I love the Gateway Arch. My dad got to go up in it b4 it was officially opened because...

he was visiting a regional lighting sales rep. I think their company was providing some kind of lighting for the structure, or area it was situated in.

And when I went cross country by bus years later I saw it myself.

[Lonestarblue]

16. For anyone who has been to Paris, Trump's arch looks familiar.

The Arc de Triomphe is enormous. It stands 162.5 feet tall. What Trump wants is an even more enormous arch at 250 feet tall. We do not need an arch. We need a sane president who isn’t spending tax dollars glorifying himself.

[electric_blue68]

25. Thst was one of the things I didn't get to see when I visited. I did see most of what I wanted to, luckily!

[flashman13]

17. Hitler planned to rebuild Berlin with gargantuan structures to commemorate his rule.

He would spend hours staring at the models.

History definitely repeats itself.

[Hope22]

28. T...does not have an original thought! Nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

33. Including a Triumphal Arch he sketched himself as long ago as 1925

The triumphal arch was to span a distance of 87 metres and rise 100 metres, dwarfing not only the Arc de Triomphe but also the Eiffel Tower. On it the names of the fallen heroes of the Great War were to be inscribed.



Above: Hitler’s drawing for the Triumphal Arch, Berlin 1925, and below shown in relation to the size of The Brandenburg Gate.



Above: Presentation of the model of the Triumphal Arch, Berlin

https://thirdreichtours.wordpress.com/berlin/architecture-of-the-third-reich/

So that's a little bigger than Trump's current idea. Would he want his bigger still, or is he content that Hitler just thought bigger than him?

[flashman13]

34. No. If someone could explain 100 meters to Trump, he would want his to be 120 meters.

Or 150 or 200. You know how carried away he gets when he starts making up numbers.

[Bayard]

18. Stop blowing OUR money!

Stop defacing and destroying public property! He's going to claim billionaires are paying for this again.

Old Shit For Brains! This is our money for funding Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and a thousand other things that he has cut the funding for.

[twodogsbarking]

19. Let them eat a chicken nugget, a piece of broccoli some other fuckin' thing.

I want my arch and ballroom and Obama arrested.

[twodogsbarking]

20. It will have a drive-up window and serve Senile Meals with lots of ketchup.

Pay in crypto.

[duckworth969]

21. As long as he's hanging from it by his neck

I’m cool with it for now. We’ll tear it down after his regime is out of power.

[Hope22]

27. What goes up, must come down!!

He will build / destroy what he will but those who survive will clean his mess up!!

[Euphoria]

29. Of course he would. nt

It's a given with this guy.

[doc03]

32. Does that sound like he has any intentions of leaving office? nt

[Turbineguy]

35. In honor of his penis.

[Talitha]

36. Let him build it at Mango-Lardo... on his own dime.

His damned ballroom too, come to think of it.

It's just one distraction after another.

RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES !!!!!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

37. The structure would tower over nearby memorials -- changing DC's skyline and blocking views of the Lincoln Memorial

[Emile]

38. Is he dead yet?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

39. Artist behind Trump's proposed arch blasts project: 'Build it in another part of town'

This arch is horrible and should not be built on the national mall

Artist behind Trump’s proposed arch blasts project: ‘Build it in another part of town’

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-01-31T17:00:15Z

https://www.rawstory.com/independence-arch/

President Donald Trump unveiled plans Friday for the construction of a large arch in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the United States’ 250th anniversary, but on Saturday, the architect behind the project revealed that his recommendations went ignored by the White House, and went on to blast the project over its location and size.

“I don’t think an arch that large belongs there,” said Catesby Leigh, an art critic who pitched the idea of constructing an arch to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary to the White House last year, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Dubbed the “Independence Arch,” the White House plans for the structure to stand 250 feet tall and be built across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial. Its size and location, however, has “alarmed some architectural experts,” the Post reported, as it may obstruct pedestrian views of the Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.

“I would be very concerned about the scale,” said Calder Loth, a former senior architectural historian for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, speaking with the Post. “It would make Arlington House just look like a dollhouse – or you couldn’t see it all, with the arch blocking the view.”

Leigh’s first pitch to the White House was for a temporary 60-foot-tall arch to commemorate the United States’ 250th anniversary, but Trump instead decided to go bigger, and to construct a permanent fixture. Speaking with the Post, Leigh said that if Trump insists on a permanent, 250-foot-tall arch, it should instead be constructed elsewhere.

[Marcuse]

41. A compromise project.