President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot memorial arch at Memorial Circle moved into a final National Capital Planning Commission review Thursday as opponents packed the hearing, a federal judge demanded advance notice of any construction, and the Justice Department disclosed that a contractor had already painted layout lines without Park Service authorization.
ABC News reported that Vietnam veteran and lawsuit plaintiff Michael Lemmon told commissioners the arch would “profoundly disturb the peace and tranquility” owed to those buried at nearby Arlington National Cemetery and called the project “frankly blasphemous.” Lemmon is among veterans and preservationists, later joined by the District of Columbia and Virginia, suing to stop the build.
As a federal panel prepares to grant final approval to President Trump's "triumphal arch," the Vietnam veteran who's leading the lawsuit to stop the project called it "frankly blasphemous."https://t.co/W6q0dIpo28
— ABC News (@ABC) November 6, 2026
According to ABC News, National Capital Planning Commission Chair Mark Paoletta defended the arch at the start of Thursday’s meeting as completing a project more than a century in the making. Paoletta said President Trump’s vision would “honor our nation and her veterans, and provide the sacred ground of Arlington National Cemetery with the monumental gateway it deserves.” ABC also reported Paoletta linked the structure to a national-security role for the capital.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, blasted the plan in the same hearing, ABC News reported. Huffman said the arch “would dishonor America, our ideals and our laws,” and he told Paoletta that arguing from old letters rather than fresh congressional authorization would not fly in federal court.
Meanwhile, Justice Department lawyers told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that Grunley Construction personnel painted lines at Memorial Circle on October 31 without National Park Service authorization, ABC News reported Thursday, matching NPR’s same-day account of the filing. The notice said the firm will cease further preparatory work and give advance notice before any future project work. Chutkan has ordered the administration to notify her within an hour of any NCPC decision and to provide 30 minutes’ notice before construction begins.
CBS News showed protesters at the proposed site Thursday erecting a miniature bamboo arch marked with a large red X as the commission met. ABC News likewise published AP photography of anti-arch demonstrators at Memorial Circle the same day. The proposed arch would stand more than twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial and taller than France’s Arc de Triomphe, ABC noted, with Interior planning documents outlining nearly round-the-clock construction over the next two to three years once approvals clear.
For Daily Beltway readers, Thursday’s record is concrete: Trump allies on the planning panel are pushing to finish a monumental gateway at Arlington’s approach; a veterans-led lawsuit, joined by D.C. and Virginia, is asking a judge to stop it; and unauthorized contractor paint lines already forced a DOJ disclosure to the court watching every next move. The political fight over who controls that skyline is now fully engaged.
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- Original post: ABC News (@ABC) on X, Nov 5, 2026
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