FAA finds Trump DC arch poses no Reagan National flight hazard

Interior secretary says construction to proceed despite veterans’ lawsuit

The Federal Aviation Administration concluded Friday that construction of President Trump’s proposed 250-foot Washington arch poses no hazard to flights arriving and departing at the nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which sits close to the planned site along the Arlington Memorial Bridge.

The FAA finding came as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said earlier this month that the administration is preparing to begin work on the arch despite a pending federal lawsuit filed by three Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian. The plaintiffs argue the project lacks congressional authorization and could obstruct the view of other Washington monuments.

Trump wrote Sunday on social media that he had agreed at the “strong request” of the U.S. military to convert the planned arch into a “top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch.”

“At the strong request of the United States Military, and for National Security purposes, I have agreed to convert the magnificent Triumphal Arch, planned since the Civil War Era many years ago, at the Receptive Circle adjoining the Arlington Memorial Bridge, into a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch,” Trump wrote.

The complex will “house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas,” Trump wrote, adding that it will also hold large quantities of sniper ammunition.

The 250-foot arch, if completed, would be the tallest triumphal arch in the world. It would be located along the Arlington Memorial Bridge, which represents the reunified United States after the Civil War, and across from Arlington National Cemetery.

“There will be no facility like this anywhere in the World,” Trump wrote. “Out of the 59 top cities and Capitals, Washington, D.C., IS THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD THAT DOES NOT HAVE A TRIUMPHAL ARCH, but it will now and, by far, the greatest of them all!”

The White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Trump’s post.

Trump’s characterization of the arch as serving a national security function echoes arguments he and his lawyers have used to justify construction of a separate 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom on the White House estate. Trump has said the military is building a “massive complex” under the ballroom, and lawyers for the administration have said any delays in that construction amount to a national security threat.