The Trump Arc? President proposes new Washington monument: NPR

On Wednesday, President Trump outlined plans to potentially add a major new monument to Washington, D.C.: a grand classical-style arch topped with eagles and a golden winged statue evoking Victory.

A watercolor interpretation of the proposed arch job posted online last month by architect Nicolas Léo Charbonneau of Harrison Design, and republished by the president on his Social truth account, shows a monument which has strong aesthetic similarities with that of Paris Triumphal arch and the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Brooklyn. (Wags has already dubbed the monument proposed by the former real estate developer the “Trump Arch.”) The renderings also evoke the neoclassical architectural style favored by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

On Wednesday, reporters leaving an event in the Oval Office asked the president for whom the proposed arch would be built. He replied: “Me.”

On Wednesday evening, at a fundraising dinner in the East Room to benefit his proposed $250 million ballroom expansion at the White House, the president presented three different-scale models of the possible arch — the largest of which would appear dwarf close to iconic and existing structures including the Lincoln Memorial.

“The one that would look the best. I think it’s the biggest,” he said. said.

The proposed arch, which is being discussed as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary commemoration next year, would be located in a traffic circle between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.

The design of any new federal or memorial building is intended to be approved speak American Commission of Fine Artswhich is currently closed due to the government shutdown.

NPR has requested comment from the White House, including regarding potential CFA involvement and a construction timeline. The White House referred NPR to the president’s comments in the Oval Office and Wednesday’s fundraising dinner.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blair.