A group of Vietnam veterans sued the Trump administration on Thursday in an attempt to block the construction of the White House’s planned arch across from the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.
In the nearly 20-page lawsuit, the veterans say construction of a 250-foot structure in Memorial Circle, the traffic roundabout at the entrance to the Arlington Memorial Bridge, requires congressional and environmental approval before work begins. They also allege the new feature would increase traffic and obstruct the view of Arlington National Cemetery.
“It will block historically significant reciprocal views between those two memorials that were consciously designed and that have existed for nearly a century,” the lawsuit reads. “It will
dominate the views of and the relationship between the surrounding memorials … disrupting the historic and symbolic link between the two.”
The veterans, Michael Lemmon, Shaun Byrnes and Jon Gundersen, along with retired Virginia historian Calder Loth enlisted the legal support of the nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen in suing both the Office of the President and President Donald Trump personally, along with the National Park Service and Domestic Policy Counsel Director Vince Haley.
Trump revealed initial plans for a triumphal arch that would resemble Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, late last year, telling Politico in December that construction would begin “sometime in the next two months.”
“It’s going to be really beautiful. I think it’s going to be fantastic,” Trump said in October, while suggesting that he could name the structure the “Arc de Trump.”
Earlier this month, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he wanted the arch to be the “biggest one of all,” an aspect the lawsuit states “could pose a hazard to air travel at nearby Reagan National Airport.”
The announcement of Trump’s arch plans came alongside his proposal for a massive White House ballroom. Both projects together are set to cost well over $300 million and are fully funded by private donors and corporate sponsors, Trump has said.
In mid-October, demolition crews tore down the East Wing and Trump removed every Democratic-appointed member of the commission assigned to oversee Capitol construction projects.
The suit filed in Washington, D.C., on Thursday asked the court to “forbid” the construction of the arch and enter a preliminary injunction blocking the National Park Service and the Trump administration from moving forward without gaining approval from Congress.
In addition to failing to meet the statutory requirements needed to construct the arch, the group of veterans say the construction of an arch outside of the Arlington National Cemetery would destroy the emotional significance of the site.
“The planned Arch, by obstructing the symbolic and inspiring view from Arlington National Cemetery to the Lincoln Memorial, would dishonor their military and foreign service and the legacy of their comrades and other veterans buried at Arlington National Cemetery,” the lawsuits states, “and would degrade their personal experience when visiting Arlington Cemetery or traveling around Memorial Circle.”
Don’t miss the stories shaping Washington.
Sign in
Log into your free account with your email. Don’t have one?
Check your email for a one-time code.
We sent a 4-digit code to . Enter the pin to confirm your account.
New code will be available in 1:00
Let’s try this again.
We encountered an error with the passcode sent to . Please reenter your email.