Updated Feb. 2, 2026 — Washington
President Trump said he wants a new triumphal arch he is commissioning as a gateway to the capital to be the “biggest one of all,” even though the proposed location in Arlington, Virginia, sits beneath flight paths used by Reagan National Airport (DCA).
White House officials say the design for the so-called Independence Arch is still being developed. Trump has indicated he wants the structure to top the height of Paris’s Arc de Triomphe, which stands about 164 feet tall. The Washington Post reported the president is targeting roughly 250 feet — a height intended to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary and one that would exceed the 220-foot Monumento a la Revolución in Mexico City. By comparison, the Lincoln Memorial facing the proposed site is roughly 99 feet tall.
The administration plans to seek review and approvals from the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission. “I’d like it to be the biggest one of all,” Trump told reporters Sunday aboard Air Force One. White House spokesman Davis Ingle described the arch as “one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world,” and part of what he called the president’s bold legacy.
Trump first announced plans for a triumphal arch last year and showed a model to reporters in October. He posted images of an arch to Truth Social on Jan. 23 and told Politico in December he hoped construction would begin in roughly two months. The White House has not released cost estimates.
The proposal has drawn attention because the site lies along low-altitude flight corridors that follow the Potomac River; aircraft are barred from flying over the National Mall and the Pentagon, so DCA arrivals and departures run nearby. CBS News contacted the Federal Aviation Administration about DCA flight paths, but because of an ongoing government shutdown did not receive a response; reporters noted no documentation for the arch appears to have been submitted to the FAA’s Obstruction Evaluation/Airport Airspace Analysis portal.
DCA flight routes have been under intense scrutiny since a January 2025 crash in which a Black Hawk helicopter collided with a commercial American Airlines aircraft over the Potomac, killing 67 people. Investigators reported the helicopter was flying about 278 feet — above its 200-foot maximum — when it struck the airliner. The U.S. government acknowledged liability for that crash in December.
Separately, the president announced over the weekend that, pending approval from a board aligned with the administration, the Kennedy Center would close for two years for construction as part of broader plans to reshape several federal cultural sites.
Contributors: Weijia Jiang, Olivia Rinaldi, Kathryn Krupnik and Sarah Ploss.