Trump administration plows ahead with groundbreaking for the president’s ‘triumphal arch’

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The Trump administration plans to break ground on the president’s “triumphal arch” in the next two weeks, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced on Thursday.

“We are pleased to announce that after a very long wait (over 125 years!), we are preparing to start, over the next two-week period, the excavation work necessary for the Great Triumphal Arch,” Burgum wrote on X.

The project is moving forward even though a pending lawsuit aims to stop it, critics say it needs congressional approval, it hasn’t gotten the greenlight from a DC planning commission, and an FAA review of potential impact on flights hasn’t been completed.

The familiar pattern under President Donald Trump – who has plowed ahead with various “beautification” projects in the nation’s capital despite opposition and without going through normal processes – has again prompted an outcry.

“The fact that they’re moving forward on this before any of the legal steps required is egregious,” Ed Stierli, of National Parks Conservation Association told CNN.

Democratic Rep. Don Beyer, who represents a Northern Virginia district that includes Arlington National Cemetery, the historic grounds across the Potomac River from where the arch would be built, said: “This project is not even close to being ready for prime time.”

Plans to begin excavation are “plainly illegal without congressional authorization,” he added.

Nicolas Sansone, an attorney at the nonprofit Public Citizen, which is representing plaintiffs in the lawsuit, says it will act as quickly as possible to respond.

“We’re frankly befuddled as to what sorts of legal authority the government believes that has to begin on the ground construction of the arch,” Sansone told CNN.

Among the individuals suing are veterans who say the arch would disrupt the sightline from the Lincoln Memorial to the Arlington cemetery and Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee memorial.

The Department of Interior did not immediately respond to CNN’s questions, including the extent of the planned excavation.

Trump has argued that he does not need congressional approval, and the administration has cited a 1925 plan authorized by Congress to build columns close to the proposed arch site to contend that it doesn’t need further legislative oversight. Those columns were never built.

The Justice Department has asked that the arch lawsuit be rejected. In a Thursday court filing, the DOJ pointed to a recent ruling from the Supreme Court that allowed construction of the East Wing Ballroom, another Trump project, to continue.

In the 5-4 decision, the conservative justices said that courts couldn’t block ballroom construction because the legal challengers had failed to show they were being harmed in a way that would call for the judges to intervene.

Similarly, DOJ said in the arch case: “Plaintiffs cannot establish standing based on desires to view Arlington House or the Lincoln Memorial.”

The National Capital Planning Commission – one of two key federal agencies that reviews and approves major changes on government property in Washington, DC — has only given preliminary approval for the project. The earliest it could give its final approval would be October 1, the date of the commission’s next monthly meeting.

But first, an assessment of how the arch impacts historic and cultural sites – known as a Section 106 review, a key requirement under the National Historic Preservation Act – must be completed.

The Federal Aviation Authority also continues its own review of the arch, which would sit less than two miles from a runway at Washington’s Reagan National Airport, one of the busiest in the country.

A preliminary study done by the FAA determined that the arch would pose no risk to air travel but recommended that red obstruction lights be added to the arch.

FAA regulations require structures that exceed 200 feet and are in a place where they could interfere with airspace to be subject to a review.

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内政部长道格·伯古姆周四宣布，特朗普政府计划在未来两周内为总统的“凯旋门”举行奠基仪式。

“我们很高兴地宣布，经过漫长的等待（超过 125 年！），我们准备在接下来的两周内开始大凯旋门的挖掘工作，”伯格姆在 X 上写道。

尽管有诉讼试图阻止该项目，但批评人士表示，该项目仍将继续推进，它需要国会批准，尚未获得华盛顿特区规划委员会的批准，而且美国联邦航空管理局对该项目可能对航班造成的影响的审查也尚未完成。

在唐纳德·特朗普总统的领导下，这种熟悉的模式再次引发了强烈抗议。尽管遭到反对，特朗普总统仍然不顾正常程序，在首都华盛顿推行各种“美化”项目。

“他们竟然在采取任何必要的法律步骤之前就推进此事，这太恶劣了，”国家公园保护协会的埃德·斯蒂尔利告诉 CNN。

代表弗吉尼亚州北部选区的民主党众议员唐·拜尔表示：“这个项目距离正式启动还差得很远。”该选区包括阿灵顿国家公墓，这座历史悠久的公墓位于波托马克河对岸，拱门计划就建在那里。

他补充说，未经国会授权就开始挖掘的计划“显然是非法的”。

代表原告提起诉讼的非营利组织“公众公民”（Public Citizen）的律师尼古拉斯·桑索内表示，他们将尽快采取行动作出回应。

桑索内告诉 CNN：“坦白说，我们很困惑，政府认为它拥有什么样的法律授权才能开始拱门的地面建设。”

提起诉讼的人员中包括一些退伍军人，他们表示，这座拱门会阻碍从林肯纪念堂到阿灵顿公墓和阿灵顿故居（罗伯特·E·李纪念馆）的视线。

美国内政部尚未立即回应 CNN 的提问，包括计划挖掘的范围。

特朗普辩称他不需要国会批准，而特朗普政府则援引国会1925年授权在拟建拱门附近建造柱子的计划，以此证明无需进一步的立法监督。但这些柱子最终并未建成。

司法部已要求驳回有关拱门的诉讼。在周四提交的法庭文件中，司法部援引了最高法院最近的一项裁决，该裁决允许继续建造东翼宴会厅，这是特朗普的另一个项目。

在 5 比 4 的裁决中，保守派大法官表示，法院不能阻止舞厅的建设，因为法律挑战者未能证明他们受到了需要法官干预的损害。

同样，司法部在拱门案中表示：“原告不能仅仅因为想参观阿灵顿庄园或林肯纪念堂就确立诉讼资格。”

国家首都规划委员会是负责审查和批准华盛顿特区政府财产重大变更的两大联邦机构之一，目前仅对该项目给予了初步批准。最早也要到10月1日，即该委员会下一次月度会议召开之日，才能最终批准该项目。

但首先，必须完成对拱门如何影响历史文化遗址的评估——即第 106 条审查，这是《国家历史保护法》的一项关键要求。

美国联邦航空管理局也继续对该拱门进行审查，该拱门距离华盛顿里根国家机场的跑道不到两英里，而里根国家机场是美国最繁忙的机场之一。

美国联邦航空管理局进行的一项初步研究确定，该拱门不会对航空旅行构成风险，但建议在拱门上加装红色障碍灯。

美国联邦航空管理局规定，高度超过 200 英尺且可能干扰空域的建筑物必须接受审查。