Some presidents get statues. Some get libraries. Donald Trump, reportedly eyeing the construction of a now 250-foot arch to himself in the middle of Washington, DC, is very keen this week to seal his legacy in a different kind of way.
But wait! You haven’t heard of the arch? Among all that noise about the Epstein files, you might have missed it. The proposed “Independence Arch” — a colossal structure that would reportedly dwarf the Lincoln Memorial just down the Mall, not to mention the Arc de Triomphe in Paris — is Trump’s latest idea for how he should be remembered: loudly and with maximum verticality. Because if history won’t kneel, why not force it to look up?
Look, I’m sure the American taxpayers would be happy to pay for the thing. What with our stellar healthcare system and historically low cost of living and the fact that America is Great Again, it’s the least we could do. But it does seem a little badly timed, considering the whole “big tranche of documents about the pedophile island for billionaires” thing, doesn’t it?
Among all the latest revelations — that emails were sent claiming Prince Andrew tortured someone; that Epstein himself had a secret child 15 years ago; that everyone from Woody Allen to Noam Chomsky had deep ties with sex offenders Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell — it’s sometimes hard to catch your breath.
Trump, of course, promised transparency about Epstein. He talked repeatedly about releasing the files, before he had the power to do so. He hinted, he teased, he shouted from podiums, and then — well, being the president is hard! He had lots to do, guys, OK?! And there’s no suggestion that appearing in the files implies wrongdoing. People who have appeared in previous releases have denied any illicit behavior in relation to Epstein, as Trump has done repeatedly.
So, he delayed. He equivocated. He stopped talking about it altogether until his biggest cheerleader (Marjorie Taylor Greene) quit politics — and him — because of that equivocation, and until the documents began emerging anyway, without his permission.
Which brings us back to the arch. Because if you look at it another way — and there will be a lot of ways to look at it, if it’s really built that big — the whole thing is more about anxiety than ego. Trump’s coping strategy has always been building crappy structures and covering them in gold (anyone remember the failed Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City?) and this latest project doesn’t seem any different. It clearly comes from the annals of an addled mind.
Panicking at 3am that your legacy might be in tatters? Well, here’s a solution: People seem to like Lincoln, and I presume that’s because they see that big statue every day on their way to work, which presumably Lincoln commissioned himself, I’m about 90% certain. AN EVEN BIGGER VERSION seems like a great solution! Thank You For Your Attention To This Matter!
And look, all sorts of people have had all sorts of reactions to the Epstein files. Onetime first buddy Elon Musk, for example, has been spending his time railing against Lupita Nyong’o’s casting in the latest production of The Odyssey. Director Christopher Nolan has “lost his integrity” by casting Nyong’o, Musk said over the weekend, at the same time as an email from him to Jeffrey Epstein begging to be invited to a party on his island was released to the public. Gosh, it’s hard to imagine how Nolan could possibly come back from this!
Being photographed with Jeff and Ghislaine isn’t proof of wrongdoing — nor is a gross little email asking about an island party (“girls FTW!”) — but it is a reminder that legacy is not something you control. It is something that happens to you, usually in formats you would never choose.
When the MAGA hats are all gone to dust, Trump’s legacy will most likely be denial and failure. Despite his many, many promises about transforming the country and the globe and everybody in it, he has failed to bring about the respect and prosperity he promised the nation. He has failed endlessly, sometimes spectacularly and sometimes in underwhelming fashion. His approval ratings are low, US citizens are dead in Minneapolis, and basic groceries still cost hundreds of dollars over a year into his term.
As for the Epstein files, his name does appear in them thousands of times, although not damningly so. There, he appears exactly as we might have predicted, not as a hero or a cartoon villain, but as what history so often reduces powerful and narcissistic men to: a data point.
