The Trump administration filed official designs for a 250-foot Triumphal Arch in Washington, D.C., releasing a 12-page packet of renderings that show a gilded neoclassical monument unlike anything in the nation's capital, topped by a winged Lady Liberty figure flanked by bald eagles, with golden lions standing guard at each corner.
The renderings, made public Friday and posted to the Commission of Fine Arts' official meeting page, mark the first time Americans have seen the formal architectural plans for a monument President Donald Trump has championed since late last year. The commission, an independent federal agency founded in 1910 and charged with advising the president and Congress on matters of design and aesthetics, is scheduled to meet Thursday morning in D.C. to review the proposal.
That meeting will determine the arch's fate, at least for now. And the designs make clear that the administration is not thinking small.
The mock-ups, reviewed by Fox News Digital, were produced by Harrison Design, a firm that confirmed to the outlet that the principal architect behind the project is Nicolas Charbonneau, the award-winning director of the firm's Sacred Architecture Studio. Charbonneau is primarily known for his work designing churches.
The arch itself rises to 250 feet, a height the White House has said evokes the nation's 250th anniversary. Its central opening stands roughly 110 feet high. That opening would frame views of both the Lincoln Memorial across the Potomac River and Arlington National Cemetery, creating what the designs suggest is a deliberate picture-frame effect linking two of the most sacred sites in the American civic landscape.
For scale, the nearby Lincoln Memorial stands 99 feet tall. The proposed arch would more than double that.
Atop the structure sits a golden, winged Lady Liberty-style figure that rises an additional 60 feet above the arch before counting the 24-foot-tall pedestal beneath it. Two bald eagles flank the figure. Four golden lions, one at each corner, anchor the base. The renderings also appear to show internal staircases within the arch's pedestals, suggesting a viewing deck for visitors.
Inscriptions on the monument read "ONE NATION UNDER GOD" and "LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL."
The proposed location is Memorial Circle, the roundabout between Memorial Bridge and Memorial Avenue near the Arlington Cemetery Metro stop, roughly equidistant from the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. It is a site that has long served as a traffic circle linking Washington to northern Virginia, and one that the administration clearly sees as underutilized given its symbolic proximity to the nation's most hallowed ground.
Trump announced the filing on Truth Social, writing:
"I am pleased to announce that TODAY my Administration officially filed the presentation and plans to the highly respected Commission of Fine Arts for what will be the GREATEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL Triumphal Arch, anywhere in the World."
He added that the monument would be "a wonderful addition to the Washington D.C. area for all Americans to enjoy for many decades to come." The president has previously said he would "like it to be the biggest one of all," adding, "We're the biggest, most powerful nation."
As the Washington Examiner reported, Trump has compared the project favorably to Paris's Arc de Triomphe, saying, "It is something that is so special. It will be like the one in Paris, but to be honest with you, it blows it away."
Trump first proposed the monument last fall as part of the nation's 250th anniversary celebration. He posted earlier possible designs to social media in January, though those versions had no ornamentation atop the arch. Friday's release revealed a dramatically more elaborate vision, the golden Lady Liberty, the eagles, the lions, that reflects what some observers have called the president's broader "Golden Age" aesthetic for federal spaces.
That aesthetic extends well beyond the arch. As Newsmax noted, the monument is part of several architectural changes Trump is pursuing in his second term, alongside a White House ballroom, Oval Office modifications, and converting the Rose Garden into a stone-covered patio. The president is no stranger to making history in major government arenas, and the arch would rank among his most physically visible legacies.
Charbonneau's background in sacred architecture is worth noting. In remarks previously published by the Arlington Catholic Herald, the architect spoke about the philosophy behind his work.
"The world is ordered so that there's a harmony to everything. And we've been designed to know that there should be an ordering to what we do. A lot of modern architecture flies in the face of that."
Harrison Design did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on the arch's specific design. But the choice of a classically trained architect known for churches, not government office buildings or modernist public works, signals a deliberate break from the brutalist and abstract styles that have dominated federal architecture for decades.
That break is consistent with the administration's broader push to restore classical and traditional design to Washington. For a capital city that has seen its share of forgettable concrete additions over the past half-century, the choice of a firm rooted in classical proportion and sacred geometry represents a statement of intent. The administration has shown a similar willingness to hold federal institutions to higher standards across multiple fronts.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle reiterated the administration's goals for the monument in a statement previously shared with Fox News Digital earlier this year:
"The Triumphal Arch in Memorial Circle is going to be one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world. It will enhance the visitor experience at Arlington National Cemetery for veterans, the families of the fallen and all Americans alike, serving as a visual reminder of the noble sacrifices borne by so many American heroes throughout our 250-year history so we can enjoy our freedoms today. President Trump will continue to honor our veterans and give the greatest nation on earth, America, the glory it deserves."
The framing matters. The administration is not pitching this as vanity architecture. It is positioning the arch as a tribute to military sacrifice, placed at the doorstep of the nation's most solemn burial ground. Whether critics accept that framing is another question.
The project has already drawn opposition. As the New York Post reported, some veterans have filed suit to stop the project, arguing the arch could obstruct views of graves at Arlington National Cemetery and disrupt nearby monuments. The Washington Times reported that a historic preservationist has also joined the legal challenge.
Trump, for his part, appeared unfazed. When he learned about the lawsuit, he responded, "You got to be kidding. I think it's going very good, and our veterans are the ones that should like it."
He also offered historical context for the site, noting in February that an earlier monument had been planned there but never completed. "It was interrupted by a thing called the Civil War, and so it never got built," Trump said. "Then, they almost built something in 1902, but it never happened."
The lawsuits will proceed on their own timeline. But the formal submission to the Commission of Fine Arts moves the project from social media speculation into the federal review process. The commission's Thursday meeting will be the first official institutional test. The administration's willingness to move decisively on major decisions suggests this proposal will not quietly fade.
For all the detail in the renderings, significant questions remain. No cost estimates, construction timelines, or funding sources have been publicly disclosed. The exact legal and administrative status of the 12-page addendum on the CFA agenda is unclear. And the commission's Thursday meeting is a review, not necessarily a final approval or rejection.
The arch would be the tallest triumphal arch in the world if built as proposed. Whether the Commission of Fine Arts embraces or resists that ambition will say a great deal about how Washington's permanent bureaucratic class responds when an administration aims to build something that actually inspires. Critics of the administration's broader governing style will no doubt frame the monument as excess. Supporters will see it as overdue.
A nation that once built the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Capitol dome without apology should not be afraid of ambition at Memorial Circle. The question is whether the people who run the approval process still share that instinct, or whether they've forgotten what it looks like.