OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
11:28 AM – Thursday, October 16, 2025
President Donald Trump recently unveiled plans for a large “triumphal arch” in Washington, D.C., envisioned as a grand gateway near the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington Memorial Bridge to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026.
On Wednesday, the GOP president hosted a dinner for donors who are helping fund the new White House ballroom. He adamantly thanked them for their generosity, describing the new addition as a valuable and worthwhile investment.
“We’re going to build a room that’s going to be able to hold literally the inauguration if we want,” Trump noted. “All of the glass on the sides is bullet proof. It’s 999 people it can hold.”
President Trump also utilized the occasion to show attendees miniature models of a proposed arch along the Arlington Memorial Bridge, stretching between the Lincoln Memorial and the Virginia cemetery, according to The Hill.
The arch project is expected to be financed entirely through private donations, rather than U.S. taxpayer funds. President Trump indicated that surplus funds from the ongoing $250 million ballroom expansion could be redirected to support the construction of the arch.
“It’s going to be really beautiful. I think it’s going to be fantastic,” Trump said, holding up models of the arch for the group to see. “There’s a rendering of what it will look like. You have three sizes. Whichever one would look good. I happen to think the large one.”
One reporter in the Oval Office, Axios‘ Marc Caputo, spotlighted one of the miniature models, dubbing it the “Arc de Trump” in a social media post.
The proposed arch takes inspiration from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, a neoclassical monument commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806 to honor French military victories. The Arc de Triomphe itself was modeled on classical Roman triumphal arches, such as the Arch of Constantine, which commemorated the emperor’s victory over Maxentius.
Roman arches were an important engineering achievement, and throughout Western history, triumphal arches have symbolized military success, state power, and national identity.
The planned D.C. archway is part of President Trump’s broader efforts to enhance the nation’s capital.
Alongside the proposed arch, recent projects include a privately funded $200 million ballroom at the White House, the repaving of the Rose Garden through the National Park Service’s Trust for the National Mall, and gold accents added to the Oval Office, which were personally financed by Trump and his donors.
Trump also temporarily deployed the National Guard to D.C. to “beautify” the Capitol by cleaning up rampant crime across the city earlier this year.
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