President Trump’s proposed Triumphal Arch cannot proceed with construction for 14 days, despite winning final federal planning approval, leaving its future to court challenges and a timetable that makes completion before he leaves office unlikely.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan stopped the work on Friday while D.C., Virginia and veterans press lawsuits arguing that the administration lacks congressional authorisation and has failed to meet federal requirements.
The National Capital Planning Commission voted 8-4 at about 10:29pm on Thursday to approve the 250-foot arch after a hearing lasting more than eight hours. The commission had convened virtually at 1pm to consider the proposal near Memorial Circle.
More than 100 people had signed up to speak, and testimony ended at around 10pm after several glitches. More than 100,000 people have also submitted written comments against the arch.
On Thursday morning, dozens of protesters gathered at Memorial Circle for a rally organised by Third Act, an advocacy group for older Americans. They brought a 21-foot bamboo-and-vinyl replica of the proposed structure.
The monument is planned for grass beside a bridge over the Potomac River linking Washington and Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. At 250 feet, it would stand 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty without its pedestal. The building would rise more than 12 stories and contain a bronze winged Lady Liberty holding a torch with an eternal flame, along with an observation deck, two mezzanines, offices, a staff lounge and a fire command centre.
It would be visible from the U.S. Capitol, the Georgetown waterfront and the Pentagon.
Trump described the project from the Reflecting Pool on Monday as “It will be one of the great things we’ve ever done.” He has said he wants it completed before he leaves office in two years.
That goal sits uneasily with the administration’s own projected schedule. It says the project would require two to three years of work, with crews working 20 hours a day. Excavation and foundation work alone could take six to eight months, and construction above ground would begin no earlier than May 2027.
Within half an hour of the commission’s vote, the Department of Interior said it would move ahead, and the administration told the court that project plans would proceed within hours. Chutkan’s order bars construction, excavation, land disturbance, utility installation and road closures connected with the arch.
The administration must certify compliance to the court by Monday, Nov. 9. Chutkan also ordered it to notify the court within 30 minutes of beginning any activity related to construction.
The litigation followed signs of activity at the site. Grunley Construction Company personnel painted white lines on the grass at Memorial Circle on October 31 without authorisation from the National Park Service. The lines marked possible digging locations.
The dispute has been building through a succession of federal reviews. A 1925 law designated a memorial arch at the location, and the entirely Trump-appointed Commission for Fine Arts approved the design in May 2026. The National Capital Planning Commission began considering the plan in June 2026, after which the administration submitted a 106-page proposal last week.
In September 2026, a federal council packed with Trump allies abruptly ended a historic preservation review. A National Park Service review released in August said the arch could adversely affect as many as 42 historic sites.
Mark Paoletta, the planning commission’s chairman, praised Trump for pursuing an arch called for more than a century ago under a law passed in the 1920s. Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat set to chair the House Natural Resources Committee, called the project “ill-advised and illegal.”
Michael Lemmon, a Vietnam War veteran and a plaintiff, wrote in a February court filing: “The thought of being interred in the shadow of what I believe to be a personal vanity project is profoundly disturbing to me.”
Rep. James Walkinshaw, a Virginia Democrat, told a protest rally: “If somehow Donald Trump manages to build this arch, I'm not going to stop until we ensure it's a temporary arch.” Democratic lawmakers have said they will seek to make it harder for Trump to advance his D.C. projects when they take control of Congress in January.
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