Trump announced Sunday that his 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery will serve as a military weapons facility, housing drones, snipers, and large quantities of ammunition.
"At the strong request of the United States Military, and for National Security purposes," Trump wrote on Truth Social, he agreed to convert the arch at Memorial Circle "into a top grade Military Complex." He described a facility that would "house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage."
He named no military official who made the request. He cited no service branch, no memo, no formal operational need. No branch of the military has publicly confirmed any such request.
The arch — a neoclassical monument with gold accents, golden lions, a winged Lady Liberty, and the inscription "One Nation Under God" — would rise from a traffic island at Memorial Circle and stand nearly 90 feet taller than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It has faced lawsuits since February, when Vietnam veterans Michael Lemmon, Shaun Byrnes, and Jon Gundersen sued to block construction. Architectural historian Calder Loth joined them. VoteVets, Home of the Brave, and the Cultural Landscape Foundation followed.
