Trump arch will shroud iconic DC landmarks in darkness for most of the year

President Donald Trump addresses a dinner for donors who have contributed to build the new ballroom at the White House, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C. John McDonnell/AP Photo

A damning new analysis from The Washington Post has exposed the real impact of President Donald Trump's "triumphal arch," finding that it would ruin one of the most revered landmarks in Washington D.C., for most of the year.

Alongside his plans for a White House ballroom and relentless pursuit of stamping his name on buildings, Trump has also been forging ahead with a massive new arch in the nation's capital, inspired by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and other similar landmarks. The structure is planned to go up on the site of Memorial Circle, across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial and right near the entrance to Arlington Cemetery. Trump has proposed making the arch 250 feet tall, which critics warn would dwarf the rest of the city's structures and disrupt some of its iconic views.

On Tuesday morning, the Post released an extensive analysis detailing the potential impact of the arch on the nearby Arlington Cemetery, using a "to-scale digital 3D model." The report found that the structure would cast a new shadow over the area most days of the year and impact other landmarks across the city as well.

"Over the course of a year, the shadow of the triumphal arch would touch burial sites in Arlington National Cemetery on 284 days," the outlet explained. It would briefly cover [John F.] Kennedy’s eternal flame on 18 days, and it would shade the former president’s memorial on 50. It would darken the Military Women’s Memorial on 109 days."

It added: "The shadow would move across the graves of veterans and their next of kin from the Vietnam War, Korean War, World War II, World War I, Spanish-American War and Civil War, the model shows. It would dim the headstones of formerly enslaved people. In total, The Post found that it would pass over more than 75,000 graves. On most days, by the time the cemetery opens at 8 a.m., the shadow would recede from the grounds. It would linger past that time on 26 days, the model shows."

"The original designers understood that the open space between significant structures was as important as the landmarks themselves,” Neil Flanagan, an architect and historian currently writing a book about Washington’s design, told the Post

Paul Eaton, "a retired U.S. Army major general whose parents are buried in the cemetery," told the Post that the idea of the arch casting shadows on the graves of veterans would be "a sacrelige."

These findings run counter to the Interior Department's own claim that the arch would only cause a small amount of shadow at the cemetery for less than two weeks each year. When the agency provided a copy of the report with those claims, the Post found that it did "not explain the methodologies used."

When pressed for comment about these findings, the White House appeared to largely dodge the question, with a spokesman telling the Post only that the arch would "enhance the visitor experience" at Arlington and would become "one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington D.C., but throughout the world."

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