Trump Triumphal Arch Submitted for CFA Concept Review: 250 Feet Tall, Topped by 60-Foot Winged Lady Liberty
The Department of the Interior, on behalf of the Executive Office of the President, has filed concept drawings for a 250-foot triumphal arch on Columbia Island directly across from the Lincoln Memorial. The full Harrison Design submission is in the Commission of Fine Arts' April 16 meeting packet.
The Executive Office of the President, acting through the Department of the Interior, has submitted concept drawings for a 250-foot triumphal arch at Memorial Circle — the roundabout on Columbia Island between Arlington National Cemetery and the Arlington Memorial Bridge — for review at the Commission of Fine Arts' monthly meeting on April 16, 2026. The full 12-page presentation, stamped April 16, 2026 and prepared by Atlanta-based Harrison Design with Nicolas Leo Charbonneau as design partner, is listed as agenda item CFA 16/APR/26-1 and is posted as a linked PDF on the CFA meeting page.
The site chosen puts the arch squarely on the ceremonial axis that connects the Lincoln Memorial, Memorial Bridge and Arlington House. The Memorial Axis site plan in the submission documents shows the arch replacing the central traffic circle where Memorial Avenue, Washington Boulevard and the George Washington Memorial Parkway currently meet, directly across the Potomac from the west end of the National Mall.
What Harrison Design is actually proposing
The side elevation in the packet locks in these dimensions, reading them off the architect's own scale bars:
| Element | Height / size |
|---|---|
| Total height to top of statue | 250 ft |
| Main arch body (to cornice) | 166 ft |
| Attic story above cornice | 24 ft |
| Gilded statue atop the attic | 60 ft |
| Central archway opening | 110 ft tall × 55 ft wide |
| Plan footprint (the two piers) | 81 ft × 166 ft |
| Upper viewing deck | 174 ft × 92 ft |
The crowning figure, styled as a winged Lady Liberty holding a torch, stands 60 feet tall on its own — taller than the entire height of many federal monuments in Washington. She is flanked on the attic story by two smaller gilded eagles, and the four corners of the base are anchored by seated gilded lions. Gilded winged Victory figures appear in the spandrels on either side of the central arch.
For scale: the existing Lincoln Memorial directly across the river tops out at about 100 feet. The Arlington Memorial Bridge it terminates is roughly 38 feet above the Potomac. A 250-foot arch at this location would be roughly two and a half times the height of the Lincoln Memorial and would sit atop a platform above the bridge deck.
What's actually on the arch
The inscription above the central archway on the elevation drawings reads "ONE NATION UNDER GOD." The aerial rendering showing the arch across the Potomac, however, depicts a different frieze with "LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL" — suggesting the two sides of the arch will carry different phrases, though the submission does not label which face is which. The pediments on both elevations carry carved floral garlands and a central cartouche.
The floor plan sheet shows the arch is not solid: each of the two 55'6" × 81' piers contains an interior stair running the full height, with a main level, an intermediate upper-level deck at 166 feet, and a public viewing deck at 190 feet — the observation floor sitting 24 feet above the cornice and just below the statue's plinth.
Approval path
The filing at the CFA is the first of several federal reviews the project has to clear. The Commission of Fine Arts is an advisory body — its recommendations are not binding, but a negative vote at the concept stage typically pushes projects back to the drawing board. The CFA packet lists this item at the "Concept" stage, meaning Harrison Design is seeking initial feedback on massing, siting and character, not final design approval.
Beyond the CFA, the project would need to go through the National Capital Planning Commission (which has jurisdiction over federal land in DC) and secure environmental, historic-preservation and Park Service approvals for construction on land administered by the George Washington Memorial Parkway unit of the National Park Service. Columbia Island is federal parkland. The April 16 hearing is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. at the CFA offices at 401 F Street NW and is open to the public.