The design shows a 250-foot gilded arch topped with a winged figure holding a torch, flanked by eagles and lions. The arch includes inscriptions reading “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All.” Trump wants to place it near the Arlington Memorial Bridge on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, across from the Lincoln Memorial, which is still within the District of Columbia’s boundary.
The structure would rise more than twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial, which stands 99 feet tall, and would surpass other well-known triumphal monuments worldwide. It would also sit in a traffic circle connecting Washington and northern Virginia, within view of the National Mall.
The Interior Department submitted the design to the Commission of Fine Arts, a federal review panel made up of presidential appointees, which will evaluate the proposal on April 16. A group of Vietnam War veterans and a historian have also filed suit to block construction, arguing the monument would disrupt historic sightlines between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
