District of Columbia and Virginia sue to block Trump’s triumphal arch plans

The monument has sparked fierce opposition from local governments fearing disruption to traffic and historic views.

President Donald Trump is pushing to construct a triumphal arch on the Potomac River near Arlington National Cemetery [File: Saul Loeb/ AFP]

The District of Columbia (DC) and the state of Virginia have filed a joint lawsuit to halt the construction of a large triumphal arch sought by United States President Donald Trump.

Filed on Saturday, the lawsuit denounces the project as “flagrantly unlawful” and “legally indefensible”.

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It calls on the federal court system to bar construction before it starts.

Otherwise, the lawsuit warns, Trump could claim that pausing construction already under way would pose a national security risk, as he has done with other controversial projects in the past.

“This is not the first time that Defendants have rushed to dramatically remake the District too quickly for courts to intervene,” the lawsuit reads. “This Court should not allow this effort to escape judicial scrutiny.”

Saturday’s complaint brings the total number of lawsuits against the arch to three.

Trump has championed the prospect of building a triumphal arch, similar to the Arc de Triomphe built in Paris during Napoleonic times.

Trump’s arch, however, is designed to stand 30 metres (100 feet) taller than the Statue of Liberty. It would tower from the Memorial Circle in Washington, DC, at 76 metres (250ft).

That colossal scale has prompted outrage, particularly from veterans’ groups who fear the arch would block views of Arlington National Cemetery, a hallowed military grave site.

White House officials maintain that ground could be broken as early as next week, on or around November 5.

On Friday, the administration unveiled a 106-page proposal for the arch to be a 12-storey megastructure, featuring a winged bronze statue of Lady Liberty lifting an eternal flame.

The arch would include two mezzanines and an observation deck with panoramic east-west views, as well as programme spaces, offices and a “fire command centre”.

Trump has previously said the arch would double as a military hub with snipers and drone capabilities.

Construction on the arch would also result in significant traffic changes in the area, including rerouting traffic to nearby roads.

In Saturday’s lawsuit, Attorneys General Brian Schwalb of Washington, DC, and Jay Jones of Virginia pointed to the project’s disruptive footprint as a major concern.

“As soon as defendants break ground on this project, they will inflict irreparable harm on both the District and Virginia,” the lawsuit said.

It warns that the anticipated three-year construction project will stymie commuter traffic, slow down emergency vehicles and generate significant pollution, including “stormwater runoff into the Potomac”.

The lawsuit calls on the court to force the Trump administration to get congressional authorisation before any construction can begin.

The new legal challenge comes on the heels of an October 8 filing by Arlington County, which was the first governmental body to mount a legal action against Trump’s planned monument.

In that lawsuit, the county’s governing board argued that the project would cause “significant harm” to its residents and likely require changes to nearby flight paths.

The first complaint came in February, when a group of Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian launched an effort to stop the arch.

District Judge Tanya Chutkan is overseeing that case, and she is weighing whether to issue a preliminary injunction to temporarily freeze any construction plans while the court hears arguments.

At a hearing on Friday, Chutkan deferred an immediate ruling but signalled that she would be issuing a decision expeditiously.

She previously ordered the administration to give the court 48 hours’ notice before undertaking any activities related to the construction of the arch.

The monument has already received early approval from the US Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were all tapped by Trump.

该纪念碑引发了当地政府的强烈反对，他们担心会扰乱交通并破坏历史景观。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普正力推在阿灵顿国家公墓附近的波托马克河上建造一座凯旋门。[图片：Saul Loeb/法新社]

哥伦比亚特区（DC）和弗吉尼亚州已提起联合诉讼，要求阻止美国总统唐纳德·特朗普建造一座大型凯旋门。

该诉讼于周六提起，谴责该项目“公然违法”且“在法律上站不住脚”。

名单 1/3 法官维持原判，将特朗普的名字从肯尼迪中心移除

举报人声称肯尼迪中心为讨好特朗普而“仓促”翻新，共3条举报信息，此为第2条。

特朗普计划在华盛顿特区修建的拱门面临新的诉讼（共3项，此为第3项）

它呼吁联邦法院系统在施工开始前就予以制止。

否则，诉讼警告说，特朗普可能会声称暂停已经开始的建设将构成国家安全风险，就像他过去对其他有争议的项目所做的那样。

诉讼书中写道：“这并非被告第一次急于对该地区进行大规模改造，以至于法院来不及干预。本法院不应允许这种做法逃脱司法审查。”

周六的这起诉讼使针对该拱门的诉讼总数达到三起。

特朗普一直倡导建造一座凯旋门，类似于拿破仑时期在巴黎建造的凯旋门。

然而，特朗普设计的拱门将比自由女神像高出30米（100英尺）。它将耸立在华盛顿特区的纪念广场上，高达76米（250英尺）。

如此巨大的规模引发了众怒，尤其是退伍军人团体，他们担心这座拱门会遮挡阿灵顿国家公墓（一个神圣的军人墓地）的视线。

白宫官员坚称，最早可能在下周，也就是11月5日左右破土动工。

周五，政府公布了一份长达 106 页的提案，计划将拱门建成一座 12 层高的巨型建筑，其中包含一座自由女神像的带翼青铜雕像，她手中举着永恒之火。

拱形结构将包括两个夹层和一个可欣赏东西全景的观景台，以及活动空间、办公室和一个“消防指挥中心”。

特朗普此前曾表示，该拱门将兼作军事中心，配备狙击手和无人机。

拱门的建设还将导致该地区交通发生重大变化，包括将交通改道至附近道路。

在周六的诉讼中，华盛顿特区总检察长布莱恩·施瓦尔布和弗吉尼亚州总检察长杰伊·琼斯指出，该项目造成的破坏性影响是一个主要问题。

诉讼称：“被告一旦开始实施该项目，就会对哥伦比亚特区和弗吉尼亚州造成无法弥补的损害。”

报告警告称，预计为期三年的建设项目将阻碍通勤交通，减缓应急车辆通行速度，并产生严重的污染，包括“雨水径流流入波托马克河”。

诉讼要求法院强制特朗普政府在任何建设项目开始之前获得国会授权。

新的法律挑战紧随阿灵顿县于 10 月 8 日提交的诉讼之后，阿灵顿县是第一个对特朗普计划修建的纪念碑提起法律诉讼的政府机构。

在那起诉讼中，该县的管理委员会辩称，该项目将对其居民造成“重大伤害”，并可能需要改变附近的飞行路线。

第一个投诉出现在二月份，当时一群越南战争老兵和一位建筑历史学家发起了一场阻止拱门建设的运动。

地区法官 Tanya Chutkan 正在审理此案，她正在考虑是否发布初步禁令，在法院听取辩论期间暂时冻结任何施工计划。

在周五的听证会上，楚特坎法官推迟了立即作出裁决，但表示她将尽快作出决定。

她此前曾命令政府在进行任何与拱门建设相关的活动之前，必须提前 48 小时通知法院。

该纪念碑项目已提前获得美国美术委员会的批准，该委员会成员全部由特朗普任命。