Xi confirmed for US visit as ICE officer shoots Austin man
An attorney for litigants suing to halt President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot Washington triumphal arch accused him Sunday of manufacturing a national security justification for the project, a day after the president announced he would redesign the structure to double as a military complex housing drones, snipers, and sniper ammunition.
“The president’s belated efforts to manufacture a national security justification for this project do nothing to cure its fundamental illegality,” Nicolas Sansone, one of the attorneys representing litigants suing to stop the plan, said Sunday. “Congress has not authorized the arch and unless and until Congress does so, the project should not be permitted to move forward.”
In a social media post Saturday, Trump wrote that at the “strong request” of the military he had agreed to convert the planned 250-foot (76-meter) arch “into a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch, to house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage.” The redesign would make the arch the second major construction project Trump has sought to justify on national security grounds.
Rep. Don Beyer, a Democrat whose Virginia district includes Arlington National Cemetery, posted Sunday that operating drones so close to the airport would be dangerous and impractical, and suggested the move was aimed at bolstering the administration’s legal position. “Trump clearly expects to lose a lawsuit and therefore wants to set up a pretext to argue that the arch is tied to national security,” Beyer, who has introduced legislation to block the arch’s construction, wrote in a social media post.
The arch and plans for a White House ballroom are part of Trump’s broader effort to remake the nation’s capital, including the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the redevelopment of a golf course in East Potomac Park, and a push to add his name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The initiatives have drawn criticism from preservationists and others who argue they would alter some of Washington’s most prominent historic landmarks.
In other developments Sunday, Trump refused to say whether he would attempt to demolish the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the iconic facility on Washington’s Potomac River. Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump repeated his belief that the center should append his name to the building in exchange for his work to raise money to renovate the facility.
Trump was scheduled to meet New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani later Sunday at Gracie Mansion, the official mayoral residence, when Trump travels to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, according to Anna Bahr, Mamdani’s communications director.
Trump said Saturday that he would appoint an artificial intelligence czar and create an “AI Force” to help monitor the technology, though he provided almost no details about either plan. His announcement comes as global concerns about AI have grown, with multiple industry figures sounding the alarm about its dangers in the past week; Trump has been critical of calls to slow development of the industry.
China’s leader Xi Jinping will visit the United States this week for talks with Trump, Beijing confirmed Sunday, expressing hope the meeting will strengthen “strategic stability” between the world’s two largest economies. Washington had already announced that the leaders would meet to find common ground on trade disputes, artificial intelligence, and broader strategic issues including the Trump administration’s war in the Middle East.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and wounded a man on Sunday afternoon in Austin, Texas, local authorities said. Protesters demonstrating against the administration’s immigration enforcement campaign quickly gathered at the scene.