If Trump's 'Triumphal Arch' Goes Up, The Wrecking Cranes Will Be Ready
Two versions of Trump's "Independence Arch" shared on his social media account last January
If completed as planned, Donald Trump's triumphal arch outside Arlington National Cemetery will tower over the graceful Memorial Bridge, obstruct the view of the Lincoln Memorial from the cemetery (and vice versa) and offend anyone whose taste is north of Liberace.
But there's another aspect of this grotesquery that deserves some attention: Namely, what is the triumph Trump is celebrating?
The Arch of Titus in Rome celebrates the Roman victory over the Jews and the sacking of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The Arch of Constantine honors Emperor Constantine's A.D. 315 victory in the Battle at the Milvian Bridge (before which Constantine supposedly saw a cross in the sky and therefore converted to Christianity). The Arc de Triomphe in Paris was commissioned by Napoleon to commemorate his victory over the combined armies of Austria and Russia at Austerlitz in 1805. Whatever your view of imperial campaigns, military historians regard Napoleon's victory there as one of history's greatest. Nelson's Column in London honors Horatio Nelson's defeat of the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson was mortally wounded, but his statue towers above the city he saved.
The United States has not traditionally gone in for victory monuments. We have a Washington Monument, but that's for the whole man, not the military victory. Same with the Lincoln Memorial, which stresses the terrible sacrifices the Civil War demanded. There is a moving memorial at Pearl Harbor that remembers our dead and tells the story of our recovery. The tone is solemn. You can find a World War II memorial in Washington, but it's a tribute to the soldiers, sailors, airmen and others who fought the war, not a gloating expression of chauvinism.
The Dewey Monument in San Francisco honors the commodore who defeated the Spanish in Manila Bay, but it's the exception that proves the rule. There is no victory arch for the Mexican-American War — though it was a crushing victory that doubled our territory. Americans felt queasy about celebrating it even in the 19th century. Ulysses Grant, who served in that war, recalled in his memoir: "I do not think there was ever a more wicked war than that waged by the United States on Mexico. I thought so at the time, when I was a youngster, only I had not moral courage enough to resign."
And the Vietnam Memorial is a mournful thing. A black granite trove of carved names, it memorializes the thousands of 15- to 62-year-olds who gave the last full measure of devotion to a nation that should never have gotten involved in that war with ground troops.
What victory is Trump memorializing? The great battle of Caracas that extracted a single man from his palace and left a repressive regime in place? Or is it the Iran War, clocking in at $132 billion so far, draining our munitions (that could have helped Ukraine) and leaving the regime in the hands of even more radical forces than before, a regime that now knows it has little to fear from the United States and has a powerful weapon in the Strait of Hormuz? A regime before which the Trump administration is dangling $300 billion of carrots for peace? When one side is offering reparations, who won?
The proposed Arc de Trump would dwarf the Arc de Triomphe in scale and destroy the geometry of the capital. The Memorial Bridge connects Arlington Cemetery and Robert E. Lee's former homestead to the Lincoln Memorial. It knits the former enemies back into one nation, but emphasizes that this is Lincoln's country now. His temple catches the sunlight.
After World War I, New York constructed a temporary Victory Arch of wood and plaster to welcome home the troops. There were plans to finish it in stone, but the funds never materialized and it was allowed to crumble. That would be a just fate for Trump's monstrosity — but then again, wrecking cranes would be more efficient.
Mona Charen is policy editor of The Bulwark and host of the "Beg to Differ" podcast. Her new book, Hard Right: The GOP's Drift Toward Extremism, is available now.
Reprinted with permission from Creators
- True Patriots Still Face Our Nation's History With Eyes And Ears Open ›
- Pop Culture Warned Us About Trump, Part 3: Lex Luthor! ›
- Covering Up Kennedy Center Facade, Trump Makes Desperate Claim ›
- Triumphal Arch Model Featured At Trump's 'State Fair' Is Falling Apart ›
- Trump’s proposed 250ft Washington arch clears key planning hurdle | Washington DC | The Guardian ›
- Trump's arch construction to run 20 hours a day for 2 to 3 years, documents show - ABC News ›
- Critics say adding Trump's arch to D.C. would take something away: the view ›
- A few people have played a big role in 'jamming through' Trump's arch, critics say ›
Start your day with National Memo Newsletter
Know first.
The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning
