Trump's towering arch clears another federal hurdle, despite public pushback

An architect's rendering of the proposed arch, on display for the Fine Arts Commission hearing on Thursday. Rachel Treisman/NPR hide caption toggle caption Rachel Treisman/NPR The Commission of Fine Arts voted Thursday to give final approval to President Trump's towering arch between Arlington National Cemetery and the National Mall, despite overwhelming public pushback and numerous unanswered questions. That approval clears just one of the potential hurdles in the path to building a 250-foot structure in a traffic circle on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. Still, it moved faster than many expected. The commissioners — all appointed by Trump at the start of his term — had granted preliminary approval to the design at their April meeting. They had also asked for more information and suggested several revisions, only to greenlight a very similar version on Thursday morning. "This continued desire to move things at a pace where the public doesn't have an opportunity to participate seems to be the MO of this administration and also the MO of this particular review board," Rebecca Miller, executive director of the D.C. Preservation League, told NPR after the vote. Monuments built on federal land in Washington generally require congressional approval. But speaking at the White House Thursday, Trump said he does not require Congressional approval for the arch. "We're doing it," he told reporters. "The land is owned by the secretary — by the Interior Department. We don't need anything from Congress." At the commission meeting, over the course of some two hours in a warm, crowded room in D.C.'s National Building Museum, commissioners sat at a long table lined with miniature models and listened as those involved with and opposed to the project made their respective pitches. Members of the public filled the several rows of seats, and Commission Secretary Thomas Luebke said some 600 others had written in ahead of time, with "99.5% of them … in opposition" to the arch. He read from one of only three letters in favor, and one of the many more against it. Despite passionate objections from those in the room — including from representatives of historic preservation groups and longtime D.C. residents — there was little discussion among the commissioners. Several asked questions and provided feedback to the team presenting the administration's plan, including about the expected visitor capacity and soil conditions. One of their concerns was the lack of information about sculptures and artwork planned for the arch's walls, both inside and on its exterior panels. "We're looking at a well-designed arch, and it's missing one of its key visual components," said Vice Chair James McCrery II, the architect who previously led Trump's ballroom project. Ultimately, however, commission Chair Rodney Mims Cook Jr. proposed granting final approval — as opposed to concept-level — for the design, and the other members agreed. He said commissioners look forward to seeing more details of the arch's sculptures and artworks, though it's not clear what degree of input the panel may have after giving the final go-ahead. "Typically, a final approval comes with all of the aspects that they're looking to do, so I think that's what was confusing," said Miller. As they wrapped up that agenda item, the commissioners acknowledged the public's concerns but said many of them are beyond the scope of their review. "I would … respectfully suggest that you bring those objections to proper venues," McCrery said. "This is the United States Commission of Fine Arts, and we're here to work with designs that are presented to us … to make them better, to make them more appropriate, to make them more beautiful." Concerns were raised, but they didn't slow the project down Lead architect Nicolas Charbonneau walked through the changes his team had made to the proposal since the last meeting, like removing the four gold lion sculptures at the base of the arch and