PHOTO — White House: President Trump’s Vision for Massive ‘Independence Arch’ Will Be ‘Felt by Generations to Come’
The White House is defending President Donald Trump’s proposal for a European-style arch to be built in Washington, DC, that could be taller than the Lincoln Memorial.
The model of the arch resembles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, and the White House told Fox News it would be part of the president’s legacy ahead of America’s 250th birthday, the outlet reported Saturday.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle said, “The Arch is going to be one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world. President Trump’s bold vision will be imprinted upon the fabric of America and be felt by generations to come. His successes will continue to give the greatest Nation on earth — America — the glory it deserves.”
In a social media post on January 23, the White House shared images of the proposed monument, calling it the “Independence Arch”:
President Trump told reporters late Saturday he did not know the exact height but “It’s just appropriate for the site. We’re setting up a committee and the committee is going to be going over it, but it’ll be substantial. I’d like it to be the biggest one of all. We’re the biggest, most powerful nation. I’d like it to be the biggest one of all.”
Trump has reportedly expressed a preference that the arch be 250 feet tall, meaning it would tower over the 100-foot tall Lincoln Memorial and commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary.
“The monument would be funded privately, using leftover donations from the White House ballroom project, Fox News Digital previously reported,” the article read.
The president unveiled three arch models of different sizes in October at the White House, USA Today reported.
“The arch would overlook the Potomac River on the other side of the Arlington Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial,” the outlet said.
Some were quick to criticize President Trump for his ballroom project, which is being funded by private donors, but that is nothing new, Breitbart News’s Rebecca Mansour wrote in October:
The current hysteria over President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Ballroom is the latest in a long history of Washington architectural naysaying that is as perennial as the Potomac cherry blossoms and as old as the White House itself.
There is nothing remotely “unprecedented” or “undemocratic” about Trump’s building project. It’s by far the most precedented thing he’s ever done in Washington. In fact, it would be truly unprecedented if a president who is world-famous for restoring historic buildings didn’t make changes to the White House. He is the most qualified person in the world to build a ballroom, and he’s doing it for the right reasons (to improve the property for everyone) and in the right way (without taxpayer money), all in keeping with the best traditions of his predecessors.
Despite the pushback, President Trump went shopping in early January for marble and onyx, which he will pay for, as the ballroom project moved forward, the outlet reported.
