President Trump’s idea of using his proposed 250-foot triumphal arch near Washington as a weapons storage site and staging area for snipers and drones is drawing criticism from lawmakers on Capitol Hill and questions from military analysts.
On Sunday, President Trump said he agreed to a “strong request” from the Pentagon to “convert” the project into a “top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch” to store large numbers of drones and ammunition for sniper teams on the roof.
“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,” Mr. Trump said in a Truth Social post.
When asked for comment on Monday, a Pentagon spokesperson said the Defense Department had no information beyond Mr. Trump’s social media post.
The president didn’t elaborate on why a decorative arch outside Arlington National Cemetery is needed as a combined weapons depot and sniper platform.
Mr. Trump has made similar claims about his ongoing White House ballroom project, which he says is necessary for national security and military operations. He has called it a “ballroom/military complex.”
Rep. Don Beyer, Virginia Democrat, said that referring to the arch as a military complex is clearly meant as a defense in a future lawsuit that the project is linked to national security, which he called “obviously idiotic.” His district includes Arlington National Cemetery.
“Putting a drone launching site directly in the landing path for [Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport] is a stupid, dangerous and unworkable idea,” Mr. Beyer said in a statement.
Retired Marine Corps Col. Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the location for the Trump arch outside the main gate for Arlington National Cemetery doesn’t seem well-suited as a platform for sniper or drone activities.
“The snipers would have a limited field of fire, not being very close to either the White House or the Pentagon,” he told The Washington Times. “Drone operations would be constricted because this is on the flight path for aircraft flying into National Airport.”
The White House hasn’t said how ordnance would be stored in the proposed arch, Col. Cancian said.
“How will ammunition be handled? Bullets are not particularly difficult to store, but anything larger requires elaborate safeguards,” he said.
The White House hasn’t said why the proposed arch would be needed to store military-grade ordnance. Fort Myer, located about half a mile away, has three ammunition storage bunkers, Col. Cancian said.
Arlington National Cemetery is one of the most prominent historical sites in the Washington, D.C. area and draws millions of visitors every year. While designers say the proposed triumphal arch will be more than twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial, it will be placed in a relatively constricted area.
Mr. Trump’s proposal doesn’t say how the arch will operate as both a tourist attraction and a military facility.
“Normally tourists would be kept at a distance or tightly screened, but the small physical layout does not allow that,” Col. Cancian said. “Excluding tourists undermines the commemorative purpose of the arch.”
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