Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump unveiled plans for a new monument to be built in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary next year.
The new monument, an arch nearly identical to Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, will welcome visitors in front of the Arlington Memorial Bridge adjacent to the Lincoln Memorial.
The arch will be centered in the Memorial Circle roundabout facing the White House, Time reported.
“It’s going to be really beautiful. I think it’s going to be fantastic,” President Trump told attendees at a White House ballroom dinner on Wednesday.
“There’s a rendering of what it will look like. You have three sizes,” he added while holding up models of the arch.
He said that he was presented with three arch models varying in small, medium, and large sizes. The president added that his preference was for the large one.
Nicolas Leo Charbonneau, a partner at the Harrison Design architectural firm, previously shared watercolor concept art of the new arch in September, Time wrote.
The president later posted it to his Truth Social page.
It remains unclear when the arch construction will begin and what the cost will be. The president, however, said that remaining funds from the new White House ballroom project will go towards financing the arch, per Fox News.
The construction of the new White House ballroom is estimated to cost $200 million and will be financed by President Trump and other private donors, according to the outlet.
Before the ballroom, the president added gold accents in the Oval Office and Cabinet Room, including a “walk of fame” with portraits of former presidents, along with a photo of an autopen representing Joe Biden.
President Trump also added stone pavers to the White House Rose Garden lawn and installed two 88-foot flagpoles.