Donald Trump wants to build an American Arc de Triomphe on a traffic circle on Memorial Drive between the west end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge (across the Potomac River from the National Mall) and the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.
An arch is an arch, so at least the left can't quibble about the design. Whether it should be built at all is a whole other question. As long as it's private money, who cares? What's one more monument in Washington, D.C.?
The primary official justification for the project is to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence (celebrated in July 2026), which is entirely worthy of an arch. When Trump (apparently joking) first claimed the arch would honor him, liberals threatened to jump off the Washington Monument if that happened.
Going through life without a sense of humor is so sad.
Then came the lawsuits. The District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Virginia filed a joint federal lawsuit against the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior. They argue that the project bypassed critical environmental and public safety reviews, violates local height limits, and threatens traffic and regional infrastructure.
Oh, dear. We can't have that.
A separate lawsuit was brought forward by a group of Vietnam War veterans and historic preservationists, challenging the authorization of the monument and arguing it desecrates the solemnity of the approach to Arlington National Cemetery.
The "solemnity of the approach to Arlington National Cemetery"? I drove that approach a thousand times in the seven years I lived in Virginia and worked in D.C.. Those vets must have driven it when the approach wasn't backed up for a couple of miles with people honking and screaming and cars belching exhaust. Otherwise, how "solemn" do you think it was?
No matter. The two lawsuits were combined and now claim that the federal government overstepped its legal authority by approving the monument without proper congressional approval.
I'm not sure a privately funded monument needs Congress to approve it. That will be one issue to be decided. But now, American royalty have joined the fray, and they are not amused at the shadow that will be cast upon a certain section of Arlington Cemetery.
Nine members of the Kennedy Clan have filed suit to halt the project in its tracks. The family members said, "The massive arch would 'permanently cast shadows' over the graves of their relatives and those of fallen American service members and obstruct the designed sightline from the eternal flame at President John F. Kennedy’s gravesite," according to the Wall Street Journal.
It's a fricking arch. It won't "obstruct" anything. They should have said plainly that they wanted nothing built by a Republican president to disturb the worship of John F. Kennedy.
“We believe Donald Trump has violated the laws and procedures established by Congress to protect this most sacred national memorial,” Rory Kennedy and Maxwell Kennedy, children of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, said in a joint statement Tuesday.
“A towering arch casting shadows across the graves of our father, mother, and uncles, as well as the graves of so many who have served our country, would also cast a shadow over our democratic principles, undermining the safeguards established by our elected representatives to protect this hallowed ground for generations to come,” they added.
Yes, your majesties. We'll remove the offending shadow in an instant. Shall we behead the designers as well? Perhaps you'd rather we move the sun to a more advantageous position?
“It is unfortunate to see that some members of the Kennedy family have joined the litigation against the Arch as the project is intended to honor our heroes who rest in Arlington Cemetery,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement.
Those seeking to block the arch’s construction argue the president doesn’t have the authority to move forward with the project without congressional approval, which is required when building structures or new monuments on federal public land in the nation’s capital. Government lawyers have said the National Park Service has authority over national parkland.
The Kennedys argue they have interest in blocking the arch’s construction to protect the gravesites and memorials of family members including the former president and his brothers, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., Robert F. Kennedy and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, all of whom are buried or memorialized at Arlington National Cemetery across the bridge from D.C. in Virginia.
Arlington Cemetery is not the personal graveyard of the Kennedy family. While JFK was a president, Robert Kennedy was an attorney general and senator, and the rest of the family are celebrities. Being related to a president does not make a grave "sacred." Unless you're a Kennedy, I suppose.