Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan’s Taj Mahal. Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Great Wall. Pharaoh Khufu’s Great Pyramids of Giza. Napoleon Bonaparte’s Arc de Triomphe. Donald Trump’s Arc de … Trump?
In the tradition of rulers commissioning grandiose monuments in an effort to cement their place in history, the U.S. president announced his plans for an “Independence Arch” to be built in Washington in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary.
Trump announced the new monument at a dinner party for donors at the White House on Wednesday, having teased an artist’s rendering of it last week on his social media platform.
NPR reported that journalists “leaving an Oval Office event Wednesday asked the president who the proposed arch would be built for. He replied: ‘Me.’”
Every time somebody rides over that beautiful bridge to the Lincoln Memorial, they literally say, ‘Something is supposed to be here.’
president donald trump
The structure — in the style of a Roman triumphal arch, resembling the one in Paris — would have a golden Lady Liberty atop it and stand at the southern end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, across from the Lincoln Memorial.
“Every time somebody rides over that beautiful bridge to the Lincoln Memorial, they literally say, ‘Something is supposed to be here,’” Trump said while holding small, medium and large 3D models of the arch. (He said the large one is his favorite.) It’s not clear whether the project will evolve beyond those models. Among other details, Trump offered little in terms of who would pay for it. Trump is already facing scrutiny over the need for and cost of such elaborate projects. Among the ideas drawing heat: his construction of a $250 million, 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom, which the White House has characterized as a “much-needed and exquisite addition.” He has also gilded the Oval Office, adding gold furnishings and décor, and paved the Rose Garden in the style of his Mar-a-Lago estate. NPR reported that journalists “leaving an Oval Office event Wednesday asked the president who the proposed arch would be built for. He replied: ‘Me.’”
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
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