Trump Arch To Act as Drone Warehouse, Military Installation

President Trump says the Triumphal Arch he has been planning for Washington, D.C., will now house drones and snipers and serve as an ammunition depot.In a morning post on social media Sunday, the president said he is converting the arch, planned to sit across from the Lincoln Memorial on Columbia Island near Arlington Cemetery, at the request of the Defense Department, located two miles away as the crow flies.“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, 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 president wrote on Truth Social. “There will be no facility like this anywhere in the World. 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,” Mr. Trump said, with his usual sign-off, “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”Construction of the arch, subject to vocal opposition by Democrats and left-leaning groups, has been a vision for the city since 1902, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who said the U.S. Senate’s ‘McMillan Commission’ called for ‘a concourse suited to memorial treatment be established’ on the westerly terminus of the Memorial Bridge. A 1900 rendering of the arch by architect George Keller shows the arch on that location. That 126-year-old plan included construction of the Lincoln Memorial and the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial. The copper Grant Memorial, an homage to the Union general and two-term president, sits on the National Mall in front of Congress two miles south from the Lincoln Memorial. It was restored during the Biden administration and enhanced with spotlights by the Trump administration.The president’s alteration of the arch, which is to exceed in height Paris’s Arc de Triomphe, to become a storage facility designed to up national security, has been approved by the Trump-packed Commission of Fine Arts. It has not been approved by D.C.’s National Capital Planning Commission. A group of veterans sued the government in February, demanding approval from Congress. They called it a “dishonor” to their service because it would block the view between the cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. The arch would significantly alter the sightline that “was carefully designed to symbolize the unification of the country after the Civil War and the strength of a united nation,” the group, represented by the liberal law firm Public Citizen, wrote in its legal filing. Other concerns were raised at the time about the height of the arch interfering with flight patterns from military helicopters.Response to the new function of the arch has raised the usual bickering over its value. Political commentator and administration supporter David J. Freeman called the move by Mr. Trump to turn the “arch fantasy into a national security hammer” a smart move that will drive opponents mad. “The soft crowd is going to lose their minds,” he posted on X. “The left wanted a monument for Instagram. He wants a capital that can defend itself. That is the difference. Strength over aesthetics. Security over feelings.” On the other side of the political spectrum, an anonymous group called Rogue POTUS Staff, said the defense component is aimed at Americans, not foreign threats.“The arch is going to be a SURVEILLANCE AND MILITARY WEAPONS PLATFORM. There is only one purpose this can serve. To launch attacks against the people. You’re not repelling a Chinese invasion with snipers from here,” the group wrote, demanding the construction set to begin this month be stopped.

Trump Arch To Act as Drone Warehouse, Military Installation

Trump Arch To Act as Drone Warehouse, Military Installation

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