Plans for an Arc de Triomphe-style building were spotted on Donald Trump’s desk in the Oval Office during the president’s meeting with the Finnish prime minister.
According to a scale model, the grand building will be bigger than the Lincoln Memorial, which it will face on the other side of the Potomac.
In the plans, the structure sits on a central traffic circle near Arlington Cemetery. On top of the giant arch, a large, winged angel made from gold and two white eagles can be seen.
It closely resembles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte commissioned to commemorate soldiers who died in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
Also, the design is similar to a sketch shared by Nicolas Leo Charbonneau, who works at the design firm Harrison Design.
Charbonneau posted a picture of his drawing on social media, depicting the arch in the same traffic circle with the same eagle and angel statues on top. It is unknown if Harrison Design was involved in drawing up plans for Trump’s arch.
“A proposal for a triumphal arch in DC for #America250, in the traffic circle in front of Arlington National Cemetery,” he wrote. “America needs a triumphal arch!”
Since taking office in January, Trump has launched several major construction projects in DC.
The president paved over the historic Rose Garden at the White House, which had been decorated in a French formal style by John F Kennedy’s administration. Trump replaced all of the grass with patio tiles before rebranding it as his “Rose Garden Club.”
He has also radically transformed the Oval Office, adding gold medallions, cherubs, eagles, and Rococo-style mirrors. The style mimics the decor seen in his Mar-a-Lago mansion and in Trump Tower.
Vice President JD Vance shared that his 5-year-old son likes the office’s new appearance.
“His favorite color is gold. And whenever he walks into the Oval Office, he’s just blown away by it because it does have this bright, lively feel,” Vance said.
The president has also revealed that construction has begun on a $200 million ballroom at the White House, which could be up to 90,000 square feet in size. According to Trump, it will be able to host 900 people.
Will Scharf, the White House staff secretary, said that the idea that Trump needed to consult anyone before beginning demolition for the project is “simply false.”
The president has even suggested that the US could “take over” and “own” Gaza in a plan to transform it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
After sharing an AI-generated video of himself and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lying by a pool in Gaza wearing swimming shorts, Trump went on to say that the area could host the “world’s people.”
However, the status of those plans is unknown now that Hamas and Israel have begun the first steps of a peace plan.
Some of Trump’s construction projects have been slammed by critics, with California Governor Gavin Newsom branding the president as “Marie Antoinette” for focusing on a “lavish ballroom.”
“TRUMP ‘MARIE ANTOINETTE’ SAYS, ‘NO HEALTH CARE FOR YOU PEASANTS, BUT A BALLROOM FOR THE QUEEN!,” Newsom wrote in an X post which mimicked Trump’s social media style.
He included an AI-generated picture of Trump dressed in an 18th-century French dress in his post.
The Independent has contacted the White House and Harrison Design for comment.
Video blaming Democrats for government shutdown rolled out at airports
Letitia James indicted for fraud after Trump demanded case against enemies
Gaza latest: Israeli troops begin withdrawa ahead of ceasefire and hostage release
Newsom targets Trump for hawking watches and inaction on Epstein
Can Trump win the Nobel Peace Prize – and who nominated him?
