What is Arc de Trump? Trump's new monument to rival Paris' Arc de Triomphe

New Delhi,UPDATED: Oct 17, 2025 05:24 IST

US President Donald Trump has never been shy about thinking big. On Wednesday night, the President showed off a model of what may become his next grand project in the nation’s capital — an enormous arch modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which he’s informally calling the “Arc de Trump.”

“It’s going to be really beautiful. I think it’s going to be fantastic,” Trump told a crowd of wealthy donors gathered for a White House dinner. Holding up the miniature model of the proposed monument, he added with a grin, “There’s a rendering of what it will look like. You have three sizes. I happen to think the large one.”

The proposed arch, to be built just west of the Lincoln Memorial on the Arlington, Virginia, side of the Memorial Bridge, would stand as one of Trump’s most ambitious post-presidency marks on Washington’s skyline. He hopes to see it completed in time for the United States’ 250th anniversary celebration next year.

Trump said the project symbolises America’s “strength, pride, and enduring greatness.” Though he didn’t put a price tag on the arch, he hinted that leftover funds from a $250 million campaign to add a new ballroom to the White House could go toward its construction, the Associated Press reported.

“It’s fully taken care of now,” Trump told the dinner guests, “and, in fact, we’ll have money left over and we’ll use that probably maybe for the arch or something else. But we love to fix up Washington.”

Trump has already transformed the Rose Garden into a stone-covered patio and has spoken about “sprucing up” Washington’s appearance by fixing “tired” parks and broken signage.

If approved, the “Arc de Trump” would join the city’s lineup of iconic memorials, but not without regulatory hurdles. Federal law requires the project to be reviewed by the Capital Planning Commission, which oversees all major monuments in the city. The White House has not yet confirmed whether the plan has been formally submitted.

The design, reportedly handled by Harrison Design, bears an unmistakable resemblance to its Parisian counterpart, which honors French soldiers of the Revolution and Napoleonic wars. A statue of Lady Liberty is said to top Trump’s version, symbolizing freedom and resilience.

The inspiration, Trump once hinted, may have come years earlier — from his visit to France in 2017, when he watched a Bastille Day military parade along the Champs-lyses, according to the Associated Press. His fascination with that spectacle later fueled his own call for a US military parade and now, perhaps, this monumental arch.

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With inputs from AP

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