Work on Trump's memorial arch to start over next 2 weeks

Kate Sullivan, Bloomberg News on Sep 3, 2026

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WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Thursday construction work would begin on President Donald Trump’s proposed memorial arch, as the administration proceeds with a project that has drawn backlash over its size and location.

“We are preparing to start, over the next two-week period, the excavation work necessary,” Burgum said Thursday in a post on X, for what he called the “Great Triumphal Arch and Military Observation Deck.”

Trump’s plans for the 250-foot triumphal arch on Columbia Island would place the structure between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, a location critics say would obstruct one of the most iconic views in the nation’s capital, overshadow the hallowed grounds where many of the country’s war dead rest, complicate flight paths into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and disrupt traffic.

The arch is just one of a number of projects Trump is undertaking to put his own imprint on Washington, D.C. The president has focused on the projects even at a politically perilous time, as he faces voter discontent over his economic policies and the war in Iran ahead of November midterm elections

Trump’s projects include the construction of a massive ballroom on White House grounds, an overhaul and renaming of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a revamped golf course in East Potomac Park and a botched effort to renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Earlier this summer, a key federal agency gave preliminary approval to the arch. But like Trump’s other undertakings, the project is also facing a legal challenge, this time from a group of military veterans.

Trump received a boost when a recent National Park Service report backed his plans for the triumphal arch even though the study found that it would disrupt sight-lines around Washington.

Trump also secured a major victory recently when the U.S. Supreme Court allowed him for now to continue with the White House ballroom construction, a ruling that all but assures he can complete most of the structure before the legal fight is resolved.

Trump has sought to justify his ballroom plans in part on national security grounds, noting that the facility will have an underground security bunker and a drone port. Burgum’s reference to a military observation deck at the arch could also provide the administration with another rationale to defend their project in court.

Even in the face of legal challenges, Trump has sought to push ahead with his plans.

Earlier this week the Kennedy Center took down a prominent sculpture, drawing further scrutiny. The center’s board, which is packed with allies of the president, is also fighting in court for the right to add Trump’s name back to the venue.