The Arlington County Board said the proposed arch would pose safety risks to Arlington residents and increase noise and air pollution.
By Catholics for Catholics
Looking to derail Donald Trump’s building of a Paris-styled Arch, the Arlington County Board in Virginia filed a lawsuit Thursday opposing the construction, becoming the first governmental entity to take a legal stand against the President’s projected monument
The massive monument, if built, would change the capital’s landscape, giving it a Paris-like view. Still, the critics say the construction of the building is just an ego-trip for President Trump.
The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, blasted the swiftness at which the project slated for Memorial Circle has gone forward without going through the full review process.
“The National Park Service, the agency responsible for projects on national park land such as Memorial Circle, is proceeding full-speed toward ground-disturbing construction,” the lawsuit said. “Although the agency has claimed that a final decision to construct the Arch has not yet been made and purports to be engaged in a routine decisional process, that rushed process appears to be a pretext designed to shore up justifications for building the Arch in accordance with the President’s repeated marching orders.”
According to the Epoch Times, The 250-foot structure, motivated by the 164-foot Arc de Triomphe in Paris, would stand on an island in Memorial Circle on Columbia Island, at the western end of Arlington Memorial Bridge. Plans included a mezzanine at 166 feet, a 24-foot observation deck, and a 60-foot statue of Lady Liberty.
In April, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts approved the proposal. Trump said on Sept. 20 that the arch would also be used as a military facility capable of storing and deploying drones and positioning snipers.
A new lawsuit has been filed opposing the construction of Trump’s planned "egregious and unlawful proposed" arch at Memorial Circle. We partnered with @VoteVets and @TCLFdotORG to educate Americans about the controversy surrounding the arch and give a voice to the veterans, Gold Star families, historians, and others opposed to it.
— Home of the Brave (@OfTheBraveUSA) October 9, 2026
But the board objected, by saying, “The National Park Service, the agency responsible for projects on national park land such as Memorial Circle, is proceeding full-speed toward ground-disturbing construction. Although the agency has claimed that a final decision to construct the Arch has not yet been made and purports to be engaged in a routine decisional process, that rushed process appears to be a pretext designed to shore up justifications for building the Arch in accordance with the President’s repeated marching orders,” the lawsuit stated.
Karoline Leavitt, then the White House’s press secretary said in April that the arch’s height is intended to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary. She defined the project as an architectural magnum opus meant to celebrate American history and foster patriotism across political lines.
“Great nations build beautiful structures that cultivate national pride and love of country, and this triumphal arch should be a project that all Americans, of all political persuasions, can support,” Leavitt said at the time.
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