Memorial Circle arch
Proposed monument in Washington, D.C.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Memorial Circle arch or Independence Arch is a triumphal arch proposed by Donald Trump in 2025 that would be located on Columbia Island in Washington, D.C.[1] The 250 feet (75 meters) tall arch would celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence.[2]
One of the proposed designs | |
 Interactive map of Memorial Circle arch Independence Arch | |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°53′8″N 77°3′36″W |
| Type | Triumphal arch |
| Height | 250 feet (76.2 meters) |
The site is Memorial Circle, a traffic circle on Memorial Drive between the end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge and Arlington National Cemetery. It is directly across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial at the west end of the National Mall.[3][2]
The arch has been referred to by some media as the "Arc de Trump" (a play on "Arc de Triomphe").[1][3]
Background
Duncan G. Stroik, an architectural professor at the University of Notre Dame, stated, after being appointed in 2019 to the United States Commission on Fine Arts by President Donald Trump, that the traffic circle should have something in the middle of it. As a gateway to Washington, DC, the large traffic circle should have something that "would be very noteworthy — and it should be beautiful". He said that America's 250th anniversary presented an opportunity that could be fulfilled by a triumphal arch.[3]
In an April 2025 article titled "Washington Needs an Arch", in the conservative publication The American Mind, art critic Catesby Leigh detailed the visual effect that an arch would have on the axis of monuments on the National Mall. Leigh also observed that Washington D.C. is the "only major Western capital without a monumental arch".[4]
Development
On October 15, 2025, Trump showed reporters in the Oval Office a model sitting on his desk of a proposed arch that he wished to build. CBS reporter Ed O'Keefe asked if it would be called "The Arc de Trump", a nickname that was immediately adopted by the media.[1][5]
Later that evening, guests were shown three differently scaled models of the arch at a dinner in the White House's East Room for donors to the ballroom expansion. [6] The largest version would reportedly dwarf the iconic structures closest to it, including the Lincoln Memorial.[7]
The large arch, which Anastasia Tsioulcas, writing for NPR, said was evocative of the neoclassical style favored by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, would be surmounted by two eagles and a golden winged figure variously described as an angel or a suggestion of Victory.[7][8] Trump said it represented Lady Liberty.[9]
During the aforementioned dinner, Trump also stated that construction of the arch would be completed in time for the 250th anniversary of the United States. He said that it was "fully financed", and that some of the funds left over from the ballroom project would be used to fund the arch.[2]
On December 16, 2025, Trump announced that Vince Haley was to be in charge of the project.[10] On December 31, 2025, Trump said construction of the arch would start within two months.[11] Nicolas Leo Charbonneau has been retained as the architect for the project.[12]
On January 23, 2026, Trump presented another design of the Independence Arch, measuring 250 feet (75 meters), one foot for every year of the independence of the United States. This would be taller than the Arc de Triomphe, which measures 164 feet (50 meters),[13] and almost half as tall as the Washington Monument, at 555 feet (169 meters) the tallest structure in Washington.
After Trump opted for the largest design presented to him, some architects who were initially supportive of an arch (including Leigh) expressed their opposition to an arch of such size at the proposed location.[12] On February 19, 2026, the advocacy group Public Citizen filed a lawsuit on behalf of three Vietnam War veterans to stop the project, arguing it had not received proper approval from Congress or appropriate independent government agencies. Construction had not yet begun.[14]