Demonstrators protested Thursday morning in a traffic circle near Arlington National Cemetery against President Trump’s proposed Triumphal Arch at the site, chanting “veterans over vanity, stop arch insanity” and calling the project illegal.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Illinois Democrat and an Iraq war veteran, told the protesters at Memorial Circle that Mr. Trump’s plan to use the proposed 250-foot arch as a military depot for drones and sniper teams is not safe because of the area’s congested airspace.
“How do you put drones and snipers and tourists on top of the same monument?” It is not going to happen,” Ms. Duckworth said, adding that she asked the Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration to reject the plan.
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Jon Gundersen, an Army veteran and retired Foreign Service officer, condemned the arch, which would obstruct historic sightlines between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.
“Did [Mr. Trump] consult with Congress? Did he consult with veterans? Did he consult with the grieving parents up there in Arlington, with the Gold Star parents?” Mr. Gundersen asked the demonstrators. “No!” they responded.
Mr. Trump last year proposed constructing the arch to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding, presenting it as a tourist destination with viewing decks. His administration moved forward the plans without seeking congressional approval, arguing that a 101-year-old authorization for an unbuilt project on the site covers the current structure.
Last month, the president said the U.S. military requested it be converted into a “top-grade military complex” to store ammunition, launch drones and station snipers for national security
Congressional Democrats and preservation opponents are trying to block the arch’s construction.
In February, Public Citizen, a progressive nonprofit that organized Thursday’s protest, filed a federal lawsuit to block the Trump administration from constructing the arch. The lawsuit argues that the project is unlawful because Congress has not authorized it.
“We know what a one-man rule is. We know what the lack of rule of law is,” Mr. Gundersen, a plaintiff in the suit, said Thursday. “We don’t want that to happen again.”
On Capitol Hill on Monday, Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon sought unanimous consent to bar federal funding for planning or construction of the arch. Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, objected and blocked the fast-track request.
“We’re going to keep this from getting built. But if it’s ever built, let’s tear it down,” Mr. Merkley said at Thursday’s protest. “The arches are built by dictators.”
Rep. Don Beyer introduced the Arlington National Cemetery Viewshed Protection Act to explicitly ban the arch’s construction and permanently bar federal funds for it.
“In America, we have had great presidents and mediocre presidents, but we’ve never had a president so defined by vanity, narcissism and delusional grandiosity, and if it were only a personal tragedy, but it’s not. It is a national tragedy,” the Virginia Democrat said at the protest. “The Trump arch is illegal.”
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