Follow-Up: D.C. and Virginia Sue to Block Trump's Triumphal Arch, Calling the 250-Foot Monument 'Flagrantly Unlawful'
President Donald Trump's planned 250-foot (76-metre) triumphal arch at Memorial Circle in Washington faces a new legal challenge. On Saturday (October 31), District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb and Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones filed a joint federal lawsuit seeking to halt the project and asking for a temporary restraining order, calling the project 'flagrantly unlawful'. There are now three lawsuits seeking to stop work on the arch.
The attorneys general argue that the administration is bypassing the congressional authorisation legally required to build a commemorative work, and that the arch's 250 feet would nearly double the capital's 130-foot legal height limit. They say that as soon as the defendants break ground, they will inflict irreparable harm on the District and Virginia: during a construction period of about three years, the project would inevitably snarl traffic between the jurisdictions, produce pollution and stormwater runoff in the Potomac River, and interfere with emergency services. The suit cites the January 2025 midair collision between a military helicopter and an airliner, which killed 67 people, to underline how much the region depends on joint emergency operations.
The government, meanwhile, is moving quickly. On Friday it submitted a 106-page plan for a structure of more than 12 storeys, topped by a huge winged bronze statue of Lady Liberty carrying a torch with an eternal flame, with an observation deck, an occupied roof, two mezzanines, and rooms for programme space and offices inside, along with significant changes to nearby traffic. The administration plans to seek final approval at Thursday's (November 5) meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission and possibly begin construction the same day; officials have also said the arch will have a national security function.
The original lawsuit was brought by three Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian; U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is considering a halt in that case, held a hearing on Friday, did not immediately act, but said she would move expeditiously. Arlington County sued separately on October 8. White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in an emailed response that the triumphal arch at Memorial Circle will be one of the most iconic landmarks in Washington and the world, a gateway to Arlington National Cemetery and a visual reminder of the sacrifices of American heroes over 250 years of history.
The arch, planned to mark the country's 250th anniversary, would stand about 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty from its base to the top of its torch. Whether a court pauses the project before ground is broken is the next point to watch.
Related: Follow-up: Vietnam Veterans Ask a Judge to Halt Trump's 250-Foot Triumphal Arch
(Reporting by the Associated Press)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Arlington Memorial Bridge 在哥伦比亚岛（Columbia Island）一端的交通环岛 Memorial Circle 一带，凯旋门拟建于此（资料图，2011年）。美国国家公园管理局摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The traffic plaza at the Columbia Island end of Arlington Memorial Bridge, around Memorial Circle, where the triumphal arch is planned (file photo, 2011). Photo by the U.S. National Park Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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