Today the New York Times shared an assessment from the National Park Service about the extent to which the Trump administration’s proposed triumphal arch will obstruct numerous iconic sight lines throughout Washington, D.C. We’ve known this for quite some time, but seeing a list of specific examples drives the point home.
Earlier this month I saw for myself just what impact the arch will have on the view from Arlington House on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery. It will be close to impossible to give visitors a sense of why the United States occupied this ground at the beginning of the Civil War, to deny Confederates an ideal position from which to shell the capital.
The arch will completely block the Lincoln Memorial and Memorial Bridge from view, making it impossible to interpret the early twentieth century effort to link the two sites with the ground at Arlington as symbols of national reunion. From the back of the Lincoln Memorial, it will be impossible to see across the river toward Arlington National Cemetery at all.
Preserving these sight lines is reason enough to oppose Trump’s arch, but it does not get us to what truly matters here.
When asked what the arch will celebrate or commemorate, Donald Trump said, “Me.” No other justification or argument for this arch outweighs that admission.
We’ve already seen this same maniacal ego on display all around D.C., in the form of banners hanging from federal buildings with Trump’s face staring down at residents and tourists from around the country and beyond.
Trump’s arch is an expression of political power and will, pure and simple. It comes straight out of the fascist playbook, the same one guiding this administration’s crackdown on what history is allowed to be taught at agencies like the National Park Service and the Smithsonian. Trump demands unquestioning allegiance from everyone around him. Dissent cannot be tolerated and, in almost every case, is dealt with decisively.
The arch takes this impulse even further. Its size and location will serve as a constant reminder of Trump long after he is out of office and gone for good.
Stand in front of Arlington House to learn the early history of the capital, next to the gravesite of Pierre Charles L’Enfant, and Trump will be there with you. Walk to the spot on the Lincoln Memorial steps where Marian Anderson and Martin Luther King, Jr. forced the nation to reflect, and he will be there with you. Contemplate the sacrifice of American service men and women at the Vietnam, Korean, and World War II memorials, and Trump will be there with you.
There will be few places throughout the city from which the arch will not be visible.
Having recently spent a week in D.C., I have little doubt that the arch will be built. I was very aware, standing in certain places, that this would likely be the last time I took in some of my favorite views of the city and its landmarks.
Despite cries to the contrary, once Trump’s triumphal arch is constructed, it will be close to impossible to remove. The sad thing is that none of this had to happen.
Meanwhile, the Reflecting Pool is still empty.
