The Trump administration is doubling down on plans to use the president’s proposed triumphal arch as a military complex, characterizing the massive structure as a way to protect the capital against drone threats.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in court filings Wednesday that the arch could bring officials from their agencies and others under one roof to better protect the nation from coordinated drone attacks. The administration had yet to rely heavily on the military justification for the arch in previous court filings.
In a Wednesday affidavit, Mullin said current facilities lack the “specialized methods, processes, and tools” required to properly monitor drones in Washington, leaving agencies “poorly positioned” to counteract “evolving” nefarious drone activity.
That leaves the region vulnerable to spies, violent extremists and criminals who could use drones to carry explosives, conduct hostile surveillance of government buildings, fly in unauthorized airspace or carry out other instances of “targeted violence,” Mullin said.
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Trump’s proposed 250-foot arch is tall enough to provide a line-of-sight advantage and has the capacity to host security features such as drone detection sensors without requiring any changes to the existing design, Mullin said.
Final design plans submitted to a federal review board earlier this month make no mention of drones, ammunition storage, sniper mounts, drone detection sensors or other similar infrastructure. The plans also don’t mention “national security” concerns.
In his own affidavit filed Wednesday, Hegseth said the capital’s landscape and high concentration of government agencies is vulnerable to the “well established” threat of drones being used by bad actors.
He too praised the arch’s height as a significant advantage in fending off drones, as it could allow sensors and communications equipment to be placed above the surrounding landscape to get a clearer picture of incoming threats.
“The Arch is a generational national defense opportunity to mitigate these evolving threats,” he said. The affidavit spelled out several purposes — military command, drone sensor integration, counter-drone strike systems, communication connectivity, observation and overwatch — the arch could support.
President Donald Trump first touted the arch as a monument to commemorate the nation’s 250th birthday when he announced plans for the structure last year. He shifted the framing in September amid ongoing legal challenges and started calling the planned arch a “military complex.” The language is similar to justifications Trump used for the White House ballroom, which he originally said was needed to host VIP guests before insisting the building is vital to national security.
The Trump administration is hoping to get final approval for the arch, planned to be built in a traffic circle situated at the west end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, from a federal commission stacked with Trump appointees on Nov. 5.
But three Vietnam War veterans, who argue the arch will impede on the nearby Arlington National Cemetery, filed a lawsuit in February to stop the arch and are seeking a preliminary injunction to bar construction by Nov. 4. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan will hear arguments Friday in that case about whether to block construction of the arch.
The arch has faced multiple legal challenges, including a lawsuit filed by Arlington County arguing the administration failed to complete a legally required environmental review before barreling ahead with the development.
Local preservation officials have also pushed back against the monument, saying administration officials have underestimated how much the “integrity of the affected historic properties would be diminished” by its construction.
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