ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY — President Trump declared victory in the war with Iran and dedicated his proposed memorial arch to American service members during a Veterans Day visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday.
“To every veteran here at Arlington and across the nation, we offer our highest salute,” the president said, describing veterans as a “guiding light” for the country.
Trump placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and saluted the Americans who gave their lives in service to the nation.
While much of his Veterans Day address honored those who served, the president also delivered a warning aimed at what he described as internal threats.
Trump did not directly name the incoming Democratic majority in Congress, whose members have threatened to subpoena and jail officials in his administration and members of his family. But he appeared to be referring to them when he cautioned against people who could harm the United States with their “horrible ideology.”
“We’re not going to allow anyone to hurt or damage our country with bad, foolish, horrible ideology. We’re not going to let it happen. And everyone knows what I mean,” the president said.
The pointed remarks came as Trump’s White House counsel warned the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee. The exchange reflects new Chief of Staff Stephen Miller’s hard-line approach to Washington’s shifting balance of power.
Trump also addressed his proposal to build a memorial arch on a tract of land between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.
“We’re going to dedicate a magnificent triumphal arch to our veterans,” he said. “They’ve been waiting for it for 200 years.”
His confidence came as nine members of the Kennedy political dynasty asked a judge on Tuesday to block the project. They argued that the planned 250-foot structure would cast a shadow over their relatives’ graves at Arlington National Cemetery.
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The proposed arch faces several lawsuits, and a federal judge has paused construction while the legal challenges move through the courts.
The president also spoke about the country’s ongoing conflict with Iran.
He offered particular praise to veterans “working to ensure the world’s number one sponsor of state terrorism, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will never have a nuclear weapon.”
“We won,” Trump said of the conflict. “It’s just a question of when we end it. I want to make sure we have a total victory, not a 93 percent victory.”
On Monday, Trump said the Iran war was “effectively over” from a military standpoint. He said, however, that the United States would continue isolating Tehran economically through measures including a naval blockade and a newly announced effort to cut off overland trade routes.
Trump said the strategy would help protect American allies in the region.
First lady Melania Trump and Vice President Vance joined the president for the national holiday. Veterans Secretary Doug Collins served as host.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who had just survived an effort by the House to impeach him, sat in the front row. Collins greeted him with a fist bump, while Trump praised Hegseth to loud cheers from the veterans in attendance.
“I had a feeling that would happen,” Trump said of the crowd’s reaction. “He’s done a fantastic job. He loves you and protects you.”
The president also recognized veterans in the audience, including 103-year-old World War II Army veteran Jack Myers, who received loud cheers and a standing ovation. Myers, a Hagerstown, Maryland, resident, is recognized as the last known surviving veteran of the U.S. Army’s 692nd Tank Destroyer Battalion.