In a planning document released last week, the National Park Service conceded that the “triumphal arch” that Donald Trump is desperate to build would cause “adverse effects” to nearby historic properties and monuments if construction advances as planned.
But, the administration added, the wildly unnecessary and legally dubious project is moving forward anyway.
As this week got underway, the president managed to make matters quite a bit worse. MS NOW reported:
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has agreed to convert his planned triumphal arch into a “top grade military complex” to house drones, with snipers on the roof.
The president said the Pentagon has requested that he shift from his originally planned 250-foot-tall arch along the Arlington Memorial Bridge into a military facility. He did not provide details on the alleged request.
Though this might seem difficult to believe, Trump actually published an item to his social media platform that read in part, “At the strong request of the United States Military, and for National Security purposes, I have agreed to convert the magnificent Triumphal Arch … into a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch, to house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage.”
The president has long pitched this arch idea as a self-indulgent artistic display. Now, however, we’re supposed to believe it’s going to be a military outpost complete with snipers, munitions storage and military drones.
We’re also supposed to believe that U.S. military officials presented him with a “strong request” on this.
For those unfamiliar with the geography surrounding the nation’s capital, the “triumphal arch” would sit just to the east of Arlington National Cemetery, and just to the west of the bridge that leads to the Lincoln Memorial. I mention this because there would be nothing for snipers or military drones to shoot at, making Trump’s pitch rather silly.
So why bother presenting an argument that no serious person could ever believe? Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia, whose congressional district includes the area in question, called the president’s latest argument “stupid” and “idiotic,” adding, “Trump clearly expects to lose a lawsuit and therefore wants to set up a pretext to argue that the arch is tied to national security.”
And therein lies the point. When Trump was worried about the litigation surrounding the White House ballroom vanity project, he quickly shifted his rhetorical focus and pretended the project had a national security component — not because it was true, but because someone apparently explained to him that federal courts have traditionally given presidents wide latitude to pursue national security priorities.
Now, evidently, he’s hoping to pull the same trick again.
Meanwhile, a group of U.S. military veterans is moving forward with its legal efforts to prevent work on the project from getting started. Watch this space.
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