Proposed Trump Monument Next to Lincoln Memorial Seen in White House Photos
A model on President Trump’s desk showing a new monument across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial was photographed on Thursday during a meeting in the Oval Office with Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb.
Newsweek contacted the White House for comment on Friday via email outside of regular office hours.
President Trump has said he wants to “make America beautiful again” and has already announced the construction of a new White House ball room which will have a capacity of 900 people.
If constructed the new monument would allow Trump to stamp his mark on the nation’s capital, creating a new iconic landmark to go with the likes of the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington monument.
A photograph taken by Jim Watson for the AFP news agency showed a map giving an aerial view of the area around the Lincoln Memorial, including a new arch situated on the opposite side of the Potomac River.
Both the Lincoln Memorial and the new monument featured as 3D models, while the surrounding area was flat. By the map was a larger model of the new arch, featuring a golden winged angel and two white eagles.
On Thursday Trump met with Finnish President Stubb and Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in the White House’s Oval Office, where they discussed the war in Ukraine and finalized an agreement for Finland to buy 11 new icebreaker ships.
According to the AFP news agency, the model was “virtually identical” to a design shared in the ‘Donald Trump for President’ Facebook page in September. The Facebook page suggested the monument could be built to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States, which takes place in 2026.
This design was also posted on X by Nicolas Leo Charbonneau, a partner at the Harrison Design architectural firm which says it specializes in “high-end residential architecture, interior design and landscape architecture for clients throughout the U.S. and abroad.” Charbonneau shared an artistic depiction of the arch, showing the golden angel and two white eagles, with the image being labelled as “Harrison Design.”
The White House has not commented officially on whether Trump wants the arch built or how long this would take.
On X Amy Kremer, chair of the pro-Trump ‘Women for America First’ group, wrote: “President Trump has a 3D model on his desk today of a Triumphal Arch on the National Mall. The arch will be in the traffic circle in front of Arlington National Cemetery. The triumphal arch is to celebrate our nation’s birthday next year! #America250.”
AFP White House correspondent Danny Kemp on X posted: “On Trump’s desk in the Oval Office today was a plan for a triumphal arch on the other side of the river from the Lincoln Memorial.”
https://www.newsweek.com/proposed-trump-monument-next-to-lincoln-memorial-seen-in-white-house-photos-10858098
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Jenkins, who has taught studios in Rome, and recognizes the virtue and importance of learning from Greco-Roman architectural history, called “contemporary classical architecture” an “oxymoron if there ever was one.”
“Connection is the key—linking, bridging, reconciling. That’s what the Memorial Bridge does. It unites Lincoln’s legacy with Arlington, once home to Robert E. Lee, now a site of national mourning. The arch would more than likely obscure John F. Kennedy’s eternal flame that can be seen from the Lincoln Memorial on dark nights,” Jenkins elaborated. “Inserting a grand, false monument into that axis and space breaks that symbolism. It risks replacing subtlety with spectacle, solemnity with show. Instead of healing, it imposes.”
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https://www.archpaper.com/2025/10/trump-triumphal-arch-arlington-national-cemetery/
>Jenkins elaborated. “Inserting a grand, false monument into that axis and space breaks that symbolism.