Washington, 11 April (H.S.):

President Donald Trump has proposed a towering new triumphal arch for the U.S. capital, a monument he says would become one of the city’s defining landmarks on Friday. According to the plan released by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and reported by AP, the arch would rise 250 feet, feature a gilded winged figure with a torch and crown, and be decorated with two eagles and four lions.

The monument is designed to stand between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, within a traffic circle linking Washington with northern Virginia. At that height, it would dramatically exceed the Lincoln Memorial, which stands 99 feet tall, and would carry the inscriptions “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All” in gold.

Trump said on social media that the arch would be “the GREATEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL Triumphal Arch” anywhere in the world, framing it as a long-overdue addition to Washington. He has argued that the capital was once meant to have such a monument, saying the idea was interrupted by the Civil War and later never completed.

The proposal is part of a broader effort by Trump in his second term to reshape the capital’s appearance, alongside a planned White House ballroom, Oval Office changes, and the conversion of the Rose Garden into a stone-covered patio. Supporters may view it as an ambitious civic statement, while critics are likely to see it as another highly personal imprint on federal architecture.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar