Excavation for Trump's Arch Is About to Begin: Burgum

Excavation for President Trump's planned 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery will begin within two weeks, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Thursday, kicking off what the administration calls an aggressive two- to three-year construction timeline that calls for crews to work up to 20 hours a day. The move follows a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling on Monday that cleared Trump's White House ballroom project by deciding preservationists lacked standing to sue—a decision Justice Department lawyers are now using to try to get a similar lawsuit from military veterans opposing the arch thrown out, the Washington Post reports.

Opponents, including veterans, preservationists, local residents, and Democratic lawmakers, argue the structure would overwhelm the solemn corridor between the cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial and say it still lacks final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission. Public polling shows a majority of Americans oppose the project, which Trump says will honor the nation's 250th birthday and surpass Paris' Arc de Triomphe. "When completed, it will be, without question, the Greatest Arch of them all!" he wrote in June.

In a series of posts on X, Burgum defended the arch's construction on historical grounds, per the AP. He arguing that the idea for a monument had been bouncing around for more than a century, citing old reports of congressional discussions about putting a monument in the circle. The arch "is plainly illegal without congressional authorization," Democratic Rep. Don Beyer, whose district includes Arlington National Cemetery, said Thursday in a statement, per the Hill.