A federal judge has halted plans to build Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot “Triumphal Arch” in Washington, just hours after his administration said construction could begin “immediately.”
Judge Tanya Chutkan handed Trump a significant legal setback Thursday night by issuing a temporary restraining order barring the administration from beginning work on the monument, dubbed by critics the “Arc de Trump.”
The massive structure was planned for an area near Arlington National Cemetery and would stand about as tall as a 25-story building. Its final cost, however, remains unknown.
Some estimates have put the project’s price at as much as $100 million, but officials have not released a definitive figure or explained how the construction would be financed.
Chutkan’s intervention came only hours after the National Capital Planning Commission, the federal body that reviews major development projects in Washington, approved the proposed arch by an 8-4 vote.
The decision followed nearly nine hours of contentious public testimony. Administration officials had argued that construction could get underway within 24 hours.
The vote also highlighted a sharp divide between Trump’s Washington allies and local officials, many of whom have strongly opposed the proposed monument.
Those backing the arch were largely members of the Trump administration or people closely connected to the president. Opposition came primarily from Washington, DC, representatives and local authorities.
A federal judge on Thursday night blocked construction of Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot “Triumphal Arch” in Washington. The image shows a mockup of the planned structure.
The proposed monument was planned near Arlington National Cemetery and would rise roughly 25 stories high. Its cost remains uncertain, although estimates have reached $100 million.
The National Capital Planning Commission voted 8-4 to approve the arch just hours before the judge intervened. The image shows a scale model of the proposed structure.
Members of Congress, veterans, architects and residents from Washington and Virginia sharply criticized the proposal Thursday, with some describing the giant structure as an extravagant monument to Trump’s ego.
“Trump is a president, not a king,” California Democratic Representative Jared Huffman told the planning commission during its hearing.
The project was then thrown into uncertainty when Chutkan issued a 14-day order barring the government from undertaking any “construction-related activity” while the legal dispute proceeds.
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The judge had already expressed skepticism last week about the administration’s attempt to accelerate construction during the litigation. She also questioned its last-minute effort to recast the arch as part of a military complex.
Trump revealed late last month that the structure would serve a dual purpose as a military facility, housing drones and ammunition for rapid deployment “in large numbers.” He also said the rooftop and plaza would include positions for sniper teams.
“For National Security purposes, I have agreed to convert the magnificent Triumphal Arch, planned since the Civil War Era many years ago, at the Receptive Circle adjoining the Arlington Memorial Bridge, into a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“There will be no facility like this anywhere in the World. Out of the 59 top cities and Capitals, Washington, DC, Is The Only One In The World That Does Not Have A Triumphal Arch, but it will now and, by far, the greatest of them all! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President Donald J Trump,” he added.
In her ruling, Chutkan acknowledged the government’s “significant interest in national security,” but said the newly asserted military uses appeared unsupported and were notably absent from the original planning materials.
The planning commission’s approval, issued just hours before the judge’s order, underscored the divide between Trump’s allies and local officials who have resisted the proposed monument.
“These recent and unsupported attestations of security aspects of a structure that has been extensively discussed over the last year appear nowhere in the planning documents on which the project was reviewed and approved,” Chutkan wrote.
The administration also faces a broader political threat. Democrats, buoyed by their historic midterm victories on Tuesday, have vowed to stop the project when they take control of the House and Senate in January.
“The Great Gatsby party is over,” Huffman warned shortly before the federal commission met to vote on Trump’s proposal.
“The arch is an illegal project. It’s a monstrosity. It’s a slap in the face to veterans and to the history and the aesthetics of this sacred place,” he said. “It’s unthinkable that this would be allowed to proceed.”
The arch proposal is not the first time Trump has invoked national security to justify an architectural project during his second term, as he seeks to leave both a symbolic and physical imprint on the nation’s capital.
Work on elements of Trump’s White House ballroom project has continued with funding allocated through the Secret Service budget, although parts of that effort are also the subject of lawsuits.
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