Get you up to speed: For a group of Vietnam vets, opposing Trump’s arch is about being “loyal to the country”
The U.S. Commission for Fine Arts approved a proposed arch to be built between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington Cemetery, despite significant public opposition. The construction has not yet commenced, and a federal judge recently denied a motion to halt the project.
The U.S. Commission for Fine Arts approved the arch project last week, despite receiving unanimous public opposition at the meeting. The construction of the arch has not yet commenced, with an urban planning commission expected to make a decision by early June.
The U.S. Commission for Fine Arts recently approved the arch, despite significant public opposition, as expressed by its secretary, Thomas Luebke, who noted that “100% of the comments were against the project.” In anticipation of further development, an urban planning commission, aligned with the administration, could potentially authorise the project by early June.
What remains unclear — It is not specified when construction of the arch is set to begin, despite a federal judge denying a motion to halt it.
Vietnam veterans express opposition to Trump’s proposed triumphal arch
They argue the project has been rushed and the administration hasn’t gotten proper congressional approval. The arch, they say, would disrupt the symbolic connection between the Lincoln Memorial and the Robert E. Lee Memorial, a carefully considered sightline meant to convey unity after the Civil War.
According to recent renderings, the arch would be more than double the height of the Lincoln Memorial.
“I think what we’re doing is being loyal to the country. And loyalty can be measured in different ways,” Gundersen, a retired Army Special Forces officer, told WTX US News in an interview.
The Justice Department has moved to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming the group lacks proper standing to sue. While no formal vote has been held by the current Congress, administration officials have suggested Congress already authorized the project, pointing to a plan adopted more than 100 years ago. It called for the construction of “two stately columns,” 166 feet tall, that symbolize the North and South.
Last month, a federal judge denied a motion to temporarily halt the construction, which hasn’t begun yet.
Last year, Mr. Trump showed off a model of the development project, which resembles the Parisian Arc de Triomphe, telling a group of reporters in the Oval Office that the structure is “going to be fantastic.”
When asked by WTX US News’ Ed O’Keefe who the arch is for, Mr. Trump pointed to himself.
“Me,” he said.
In a key step in moving the project forward, last week the U.S. Commission for Fine Arts approved the arch, despite overwhelming public opposition.
Department of the Interior 
At the CFA meeting last week, the group’s secretary, Thomas Luebke, said that “100% of the comments were against the project,” The Associated Press reported. An urban planning commission, also stocked with allies of the president, could sign off on the project in early June.
“We know how authoritarian dictatorships work,” Gundersen said. “There’s no rule of law, there’s no consent of the governed, and there’s monuments for the leaders there.”
Gundersen also found little reassurance in Mr. Trump’s suggestion that the arch would be paid for by private donations, not taxpayer dollars, saying, “Even if you took private donations, is that how we want to build monuments? To the oligarchs who give money for favors?”
“We have fought for our country. We believe in this country, and we’re going to continue to the end, and I think we can change things,” he said.