A replica of President Trump’s planned arch stood at the Great American State Fair in July.

Rachel Treisman – NPR Sept 5, 2026

The Trump administration plans to break ground on its proposed 250-foot arch near Washington, D.C.’s National Mall in the coming days, without key approvals and despite an ongoing lawsuit.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote on social media Thursday that “we are preparing to start, over the next two-week period, the excavation work necessary for the Great Triumphal Arch and Military Observation Deck.”

But the arch is still awaiting final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, as well as federally mandated reviews regarding aviation safety and historic preservation.

Historic preservation experts have long criticized the Trump administration for seeming to rush the arch approval process, including by moving to weaken protections for historic sites altogether. This latest development raises concerns that the White House seeks to sidestep the process, which it denies.

“Work will begin that does not require approval, but rather helps in the process,” the White House told NPR in a statement on Friday. “We will of course continue on our path of seeking final approval from all applicable entities.”

The White House, Department of the Interior and National Park Service did not respond to NPR’s questions about the timeline and extent of the excavations or the addition of the word “military” to the structure’s title.

President Trump told journalists last year that the arch is for “me.” But since then, the administration has said the arch is intended to honor the nation’s 250th anniversary.

“This will be one of the Great Pieces of American Architecture, honoring the history and significance of Arlington Cemetery and befitting the most powerful Capital in the World,” Burgum posted this week, alongside renderings of the white-and-gold structure, topped with three large gilded statues.

The arch has been controversial since its inception, greenlit by federal panels packed with Trump allies despite unanswered questions, thousands of overwhelmingly negative public comments and an ongoing lawsuit.

An architectural historian and three Vietnam War veterans, working with the nonprofit Public Citizen, sued to stop construction earlier this year. They argue the arch would desecrate Arlington National Cemetery and requires congressional approval, which Trump denies and has not sought.

On Friday, those plaintiffs asked the judge for a 14-day restraining order to prevent the Trump administration from “from taking any steps to construct or to direct or facilitate construction of any structure” on Memorial Circle, the traffic island on the historic bridge connecting D.C. to Arlington, Va.

“We have no sense of why the administration believes it’s authorized to begin work on the arch,” Nicolas Sansone, the attorney leading the case, told NPR on Friday.

He said any kind of preparatory work at Memorial Circle is “premature and has no legal basis.” While the Trump administration disputes the need for congressional approval, he said, it has acknowledged the authority of the federal planning commission — which hasn’t approved the arch and doesn’t meet again until early October.

“Irrespective of one’s sympathies for the president or antagonism toward the president, a system where the executive branch essentially gets to build first and answer later the question of whether that building is lawful should trouble all of us,” Sansone said.

In a legal filing submitted Friday afternoon, the Trump administration clarified that it intends to conduct archaeological surveys, not construction activity. Administration lawyers said that involves “mechanically excavating four test pits” to observe aspects of the soil and recover potential artifacts, calling it a “standard predecisional, information-gathering technique.”

Government lawyers said that activity will begin no sooner than Sept. 21, and “any park resources disturbed by the activity, including any disturbed grass, will be restored” by Oct. 31.

The judge responded to the filing late Friday evening, ordering the the administration to give her 48 hours’ notice “before engaging in any activity on Memorial Circle other than on-site information gathering” regarding archaeological resources. That’s in addition to an existing order requiring the government to provide two weeks’ notice before any future construction or demolition work, should it be authorized.

A political clock is ticking 

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