President Donald Trump is forging ahead with a massive triumphal arch he wants constructed across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., while the architecture critic who publicly encouraged him to build one in the first place has shared one giant gripe with the project.
“It’s way too big for that site,” Catesby Leigh told The New York Times on Wednesday.
The Times noted that the 250-foot arch, which is set to be built on the Memorial Circle roundabout to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in July, has skyrocketed in size since the project was first teased in October.
Leigh originally emboldened Trump to build the monument in an article for The American Mind in April 2025 titled, “Washington Needs an Arch.” The National Civic Art Society co-founder expounded Wednesday on what he originally envisioned for the monument.
“I was proposing a celebratory project,” Leigh told the Times. “An arch of not titanic dimensions; an arch that could be built by July 4, 2026. And if the arch were considered to be of enduring value in its design, then it could be rebuilt in permanent form.”
Leigh noted in his article that D.C. “is the only major Western capital without a monumental arch” and suggested a relatively modest monument no taller than 60 feet. Trump reportedly set the height at 76 feet in his first proposal to honor America’s founding in 1776.
He eventually grew determined to overshadow the 164-foot Arc de Triomphe, however.
The MAGA leader was reportedly inspired to build his own after visiting the Paris structure during his first term to attend a commemoration of Armistice Day. While that arch was commissioned by Napoleon to celebrate his military victories, Trump appeared to view it as a challenge.
“And this one is going to blow them all away,” he said during a White House Christmas reception in December. “The one that people know mostly is the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, and we’re going to top it by, I think, a lot. The only thing they have is history.”
Alex Brandon/Associated Press
NOTUS reported last week that the Trump administration intends to use taxpayer dollars to pay for the arch. The project already has $2 million in special initiative funds and $13 million in matching funds set aside, according to the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Commission of Fine Arts previously sanctioned construction of Trump’s new $400 million White House ballroom, and approved designs for the arch Thursday despite a lawsuit from U.S. veterans arguing it will obstruct views of the Vietnam War and Lincoln memorials.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) echoed as much in a scathing social media post last week, criticizing the monument’s placement near Arlington National Cemetery.
“While Americans worry about skyrocketing costs and another endless war, President Trump is focused on a taxpayer-funded vanity project that would choke traffic, block our skyline, and tower over sacred ground where those who served our nation are buried,” he wrote.
The congressman noted that his “own parents and sister” were laid to rest there.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated the origins of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
