{"id":6076,"date":"2026-07-02T19:08:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T19:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6076"},"modified":"2026-07-02T19:08:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T19:08:02","slug":"d-c-official-tells-trump-to-build-his-arch-somewhere-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6076","title":{"rendered":"D.C. official tells Trump to build his arch somewhere else"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city\u2019s historic preservation officer criticizes the president\u2019s plan to build his towering arch in Memorial Circle, suggesting the administration should pick a spot near Nationals Park.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Massachusetts city with large Cape Verdean community sets curfew ahead of World Cup match<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
President Donald Trump\u2019s motorcade drives past the proposed location of a triumphal arch last month. (Tierney Cross\/Pool\/For The Washington Post)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The Trump administration should pick an \u201calternative site\u201d for <\/b>President Donald Trump\u2019s planned 250-foot-tall triumphal arch<\/a>, a Washington, D.C., official told the administration last month, warning that Trump\u2019s plan to build the structure by Arlington National Cemetery would be \u201cdivisive.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Maloney, the city\u2019s historic preservation officer, said the plan to build in Memorial Circle \u2014 a traffic roundabout across the river from the Lincoln Memorial \u2014 would \u201cseverely damage an exceptional cultural landscape and one of the most important symbolic places in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maloney instead suggested a different spot that he said would be a better fit for the towering arch: an empty traffic oval located on South Capitol Street between Nationals Park and Audi Field.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would create an energizing focal point for a still-emerging neighborhood, suitable for a celebratory crowd,\u201d Maloney wrote to the National Park Service in a June 26 letter posted<\/a> by a federal commission reviewing the project. An arch located there could become a symbol of \u201csports triumph\u201d linked with the nearby stadiums, he said, \u201cand importantly, it would enhance the historic L\u2019Enfant Plan and the city\u2019s monumental landscape rather than detracting from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodney Mims Cook Jr., a Trump appointee who chairs the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, had previously identified that site<\/a> as a prospective location to build a triumphal arch.<\/p>\n

Washington Mayor Muriel E. Bowser\u2019s office declined to comment on the proposal from Maloney, who has served as the city\u2019s historic preservation officer since 2007. The historic preservation office does not always speak for the mayor and has some degree of autonomy in its work, city officials said.<\/p>\n

Bowser has sought to strike a balance with Trump as he attempts to remake parts of Washington, encouraging him<\/a> to tend to long-delayed repairs to local fountains. She has avoided public battles with the president over some of his more controversial changes to the city and its historic buildings, such as Trump\u2019s demolition of the East Wing to build an expansive White House ballroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the only important and major city that doesn\u2019t have one,\u201d Trump said in the Oval Office in May. He also touted his plan<\/a> to make it bigger than the 164-foot-tall Arc de Triomphe in Paris.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to do slightly larger \u2026 otherwise you\u2019d all be disappointed in me,\u201d the president said, alluding to his propensity for large construction projects. \u201cBut it\u2019s even far more beautiful.\u201d<\/p>

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Historic preservationists and advocacy groups have opposed the project, warning that the large arch \u2014 Trump\u2019s most significant effort to change Washington\u2019s skyline \u2014 would alter the city\u2019s historic views.<\/p>\n

Military veterans also have sued to block it<\/a>, warning that the towering structure would harm their experience of visiting the nearby national cemetery. A federal judge is weighing the case.<\/p>\n

The Commission of Fine Arts, which Trump has packed with allies, has approved the project<\/a>. A second federal panel, the National Capital Planning Commission, is scheduled to weigh the proposal July 9.<\/p>\n

Federal officials have also laid out an aggressive timetable<\/a> to potentially complete work on the arch before Trump\u2019s term ends, which would involve 20 hours per day of construction on the arch, year-round.<\/p>\n

Maloney, who declined an interview, has also questioned the Trump administration\u2019s process to build the arch, criticizing the 10-day window for public comment. He also said that outside experts had been wrongly excluded from a federally required process<\/a>, known as a Section 106 review, to consider the arch\u2019s potential effects on historic properties.<\/p>\n

Trump officials have declined to include a half-dozen historic preservation and advocacy groups in the process. All of the excluded organizations, which have historically offered input on past federal projects, have sued the Trump administration over the president\u2019s construction and renovation projects.<\/p>\n

The review process \u201cis clearly an exercise designed to shield this controversial project from genuine public and expert scrutiny, rather than to reduce its harmful impacts on our shared heritage, which is owned by the public,\u201d Rebecca Miller, the executive director of the DC Preservation League, wrote in a June 15 letter to the Park Service.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe location does not suggest a likelihood of success for a celebratory monument,\u201d Maloney wrote in his June 26 letter to the Park Service.<\/p>

Read more Tiger Woods\u2019 hospital records will be handed over to prosecutors in Florida DUI case, judge rules<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The city\u2019s historic preservation officer criticizes the president\u2019s plan to build his towering arch in Memorial Circle, suggesting the administration should pick a spot near Nationals Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nD.C. official tells Trump to build his arch somewhere else - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6076\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"D.C. official tells Trump to build his arch somewhere else - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The city\u2019s historic preservation officer criticizes the president\u2019s plan to build his towering arch in Memorial Circle, suggesting the administration should pick a spot near Nationals Park.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6076\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-02T19:08:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/91681c9fb1da86b56327b714d55807c9-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1708\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6076#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6076\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"D.C. official tells Trump to build his arch somewhere else\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T19:08:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6076\"},\"wordCount\":819,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6076#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/98be562d44570e3b5127d8c0246db424-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6076#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6076\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6076\",\"name\":\"D.C. official tells Trump to build his arch somewhere else - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6076#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6076#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/98be562d44570e3b5127d8c0246db424-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T19:08:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6076#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6076\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6076#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/98be562d44570e3b5127d8c0246db424-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/98be562d44570e3b5127d8c0246db424-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1708,\"caption\":\"WASHINGTON, D.C. - JUNE 28: President Donald Trump\u2019s motorcade drives past the proposed location of a triumphal arch on Sunday, June 28, 2026 in Washington, D.C. 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