Representative Mike Levin said President Donald Trump’s national-security case for a triumphal arch beside Arlington National Cemetery is not backed by a military funding request to Congress. The National Park Service’s planning record describes the project as a monument for the 250th anniversary of independence, not as a base for drones or snipers.
“Trump’s justification for building his arch? National security,” Levin, a California Democrat who represents the 49th District and sits on the Appropriations Committee, wrote Thursday in a post on X. “If that was true, the military would have come to me and my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to request those funds. That request doesn’t exist.”
He said the public explanation had changed. “First the observation deck on top of the arch was for tourists. Then it was for the military. Now it’s suddenly a full-blown military complex to house drones, snipers, and ammunition.” He called it an “absurd display of vanity” next to the cemetery and said veterans, their families, and the public do not want it. His office site did not carry a separate release.
The Park Service record does not use those terms. A Section 106 assessment for the Triumphal Arch at Memorial Circle says the purpose is “to celebrate 250 years of American independence” by placing an arch at the intersection of Arlington Memorial Bridge and Memorial Avenue, on the George Washington Memorial Parkway, “in a manner consistent with the avenue’s established role as a ceremonial gateway and ‘Avenue of Heroes.’” It describes an approximately 250-foot reinforced-concrete structure clad in granite. It does not mention drones, snipers, ammunition, or a military observation deck.
The National Capital Planning Commission approved preliminary site and building plans on July 9. Its action, on a submission from the Interior Department, says the commission supports the purpose of celebrating the semiquincentennial and notes that the general site was identified for a possible feature by the McMillan Commission in 1902 and the Arlington Bridge Commission in 1925. The action covers traffic signals and pedestrian crossings. It does not approve a military complex.
A Jan. 30 White House fact sheet said Trump had announced plans for an Independence Arch in Washington to coincide with the 250th anniversary. That fact sheet describes the arch as part of a set of anniversary events. It does not describe a security mission.
In a video with his post, Levin said Trump claimed last Sunday that, at the military’s “strong request,” he had agreed to turn the arch into a complex housing drones and snipers on the roof and plaza, “along with large stores of sniper ammunition.” Levin said people working on the project were caught off guard and that the Pentagon “had nothing to add.” Those details are his account of a presidential social-media post. No Defense Department page has confirmed a request, and none was found in the Park Service or planning-commission filings.
On drones, Park Service rules for the capital point the other way. Agency guidance says Washington is a no-drone zone and that unmanned aircraft are prohibited within 15 miles of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which covers the city. Levin said a launch site in front of that landing path would be “a really bad idea.” The guidance is a general restriction, not a decision on the arch.
The site is the gateway to Arlington National Cemetery. The cemetery’s official site describes it as the final resting place of service members. Levin said the generations buried there “have earned the quiet dignity of that place.” The Park Service assessment calls Memorial Avenue a ceremonial entrance uniting the Lincoln Memorial and the cemetery. It does not say the cemetery has taken a position on the arch.
Levin also said veterans and an architectural historian have sued, arguing the project needs approval from Congress, and that he agrees the president should take a monument to Congress. The complaint was not on a government site reviewed for this article. His claim that no appropriations request exists is his account as a member of the committee. The planning documents that are public describe a 250th-anniversary arch, not a funded military installation.