Attorneys general call the project ‘flagrantly unlawful,’ citing severe unrecoverable costs
Virginia and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Saturday seeking to block construction of President Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot triumphal arch between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. Attorneys general Jay Jones of Virginia and Brian Schwalb of the District of Columbia wrote in the 45-page complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, that the project is “flagrantly unlawful.”
The suit is the latest legal attempt to stop the arch, whose plans the Trump administration unveiled in October 2025. The attorneys general allege construction could begin as soon as next week.
At 250 feet, the arch would stand twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial, the monument honoring America’s 16th president.
Jones and Schwalb allege that construction will “inflict irreparable harm” on both jurisdictions, including snarling traffic between Virginia and the District.
“Both jurisdictions will need to take immediate and costly steps to assess, respond to, and mitigate these harmful effects,” they wrote in the lawsuit. “These costs are severe and unrecoverable—particularly because Defendants have refused to take them into account or adequately consult with either jurisdiction during their hurried and preordained process to approve the Arch and start construction.”
Neither the White House nor the Interior Department responded to a request for comment on the lawsuit on Saturday.
Trump has previously defended plans to build the arch and said it would be a “military complex” to hold weapons and snipers. The most recent plans for the arch, which will be reviewed by the National Capital Planning Commission, do not include military elements.
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkin ordered both sides to talk and to agree on a proposed briefing schedule on the motion for a temporary restraining order by Saturday evening.