Trump administration to begin excavation on 250-foot Washington arch

Burgum calls planned arch ‘one of the Great Pieces of American Architecture’

The Trump administration said Thursday that excavation work will start over the next two weeks on the site where it plans to build a towering, gilded memorial arch in Washington, D.C.

The planned structure will rise 250 feet (76 meters) and stand between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, the administration said.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum described the project in a post on the social media platform X. “This will be one of the Great Pieces of American Architecture, befitting the most powerful Capital in the World,” Burgum wrote.

A lawsuit is challenging the plans for the project. Critics have said the structure would disrupt historic sightlines in Washington, D.C.