President Donald Trump said Sunday that he will convert his planned 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery into a military complex capable of storing and deploying drones, positioning snipers, and holding ammunition.
He attributed the change to a request from the U.S. military, which the Pentagon has not confirmed.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that “at the strong request of the United States Military, and for National Security purposes,” he had agreed to convert the arch “into a top-grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch, to house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas. He added that it will hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage.”
The President did not name a specific threat, service branch, or official behind the request.
The White House and the Defense Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to news outlets that covered the announcement.
Monument or Military Facility
The arch was initially conceived as a monument to the country’s 250th anniversary.
The arch was never presented as a military installation. Planned for Memorial Circle, a traffic island on the historic bridge connecting Washington, D.C., with Arlington, Va., the granite-clad structure is designed to stand 250 feet tall—more than twice the height of the nearby Lincoln Memorial.
It would be topped with three golden statues. Trump has said he wants it to be the world’s largest triumphal arch.
That drone-and-sniper mission marks a significant expansion of the project. It is the second time Trump has framed one of his construction projects as a national-security facility.
The president has described the planned White House ballroom as a “military complex” and a national security asset.
In May, he posted mock-up images that appeared to show military drones on the ballroom’s roof.
Aviation Issues
Trump’s announcement came two days after a separate federal decision about the same site.
On Sept. 18, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) determined that the 250-foot arch would pose no hazard to aircraft, clearing an aviation hurdle, Reuters reported.
The FAA attached unusual conditions. It required the arch to be marked with what the agency called a nonstandard “eternal flame” on top, along with floodlights pointed at the structure, so pilots could see it, according to NPR.
Aviation experts have questioned whether a monument of that height belongs so close to the airport, with one noting that an FAA hazard finding would not be legally binding because the agency lacks land-use authority.
The FAA did not immediately responded to Military.com’s request for comment.
Trump’s plan would now add drones to that environment. Washington’s airspace is among the most restricted in the nation, and drone flights near the capital generally require specific federal authorization.
He did not explain how a drone facility would operate there, who would staff it, or how the military component would function alongside the National Park Service, which manages the site.
Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Reuters that the case for hardening the White House was stronger than any case for militarizing the arch—which sits about a mile from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, an active Army post, and two miles from the Pentagon.
“There is this military facility long-established with a variety of military capabilities one mile away,” Cancian said. “So why you need this one isn’t clear.”
He said the announcement appeared “tacked on in order to strengthen the rationale for construction,” and he questioned the logistics of storing ammunition at the site.
Veterans and Preservationists Object
Military.com previously reported that veterans were “appalled” at the project. They cautioned it could disrupt burials at Arlington National Cemetery, where more than 400,000 service members are interred.
The Democratic-aligned veterans groups VoteVets and Home of the Brave have campaigned against it. A group of Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian have sued to block construction, arguing the project needs congressional authorization and would destroy the historic sight-line between the Lincoln Memorial and the cemetery.
Rep. Don Beyer, a Virginia Democrat whose district includes Arlington National Cemetery, tied the military announcement to that legal fight.
Beyer, who has introduced legislation to block the arch, said on social media that flying drones so close to the airport would be “dangerous and impractical” and argued the national-security framing was a legal maneuver, per Reuters.
“Trump clearly expects to lose a lawsuit and therefore wants to set up a pretext to argue that the arch is tied to national security,” Beyer wrote.
Trump has cast the project as a monument befitting the capital and, now, a national security asset.
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