US judge pushes back on Trump arch ‘national security’ argument

• US Judge Tanya Chutkan questioned Trump’s claim that the planned 76m Washington arch is needed for national security. She said this was the first time the government had raised that reason in the case.
• Vietnam War veterans are suing to block the arch, which could start next week. Their lawyer said it would block views between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
• The arch is one of several Trump projects to reshape Washington, including a White House ballroom and Reflecting Pool work. Chutkan said she would rule “expeditiously”.

WASHINGTON - A US federal judge on Oct 30 pushed back on government assertions that President Donald Trump’s planned massive arch in Washington is needed for national security.

Trump did not mention national security concerns when first announcing plans to build the 76m triumphal white arch, which is modelled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

He said later, however, in a Truth Social post, that it would include a “top grade military complex” that could house drones and snipers.

District Judge Tanya Chutkan noted that the Republican president had also invoked national security in presenting the case for building a White House ballroom to the Supreme Court.

“It doesn’t make the use of national security talismanic in this case,” Chutkan said. “This is the first time the government has proffered a national security aspect to this case.”

Robert Stander, a Justice Department lawyer, said the arch is a “high priority project” for the administration.

The lawsuit being heard by Chutkan was brought by a group of Vietnam War veterans seeking to stop construction of the arch, which could begin as early as next week.

Wendy Liu, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said that given its massive size, the arch would obscure the sight lines between the Lincoln Memorial, one of Washington’s iconic landmarks, and Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place for hundreds of thousands of American service members.

The arch is one of a number of projects launched by Trump in a bid to put his personal stamp on the capital.

They include the ballroom that is being built at the White House, for which Trump had an entire wing of the presidential mansion demolished.

Another is the laborious renovation of the Reflecting Pool, a massive rectangular water basin on the National Mall.

Trump has also proposed revamping the East Potomac Golf Links, a historic waterfront Washington golf course.

That project is the focus of a bitter legal battle: the judge presiding over the case launched an investigation on Oct 30 into whether lawyers for the Trump administration had lied to the court.

For a time, Trump also had his name placed on the walls of the Kennedy Centre, the culture and arts institute named after assassinated president John F. Kennedy, before a judge reversed the move.

Chutkan did not make an immediate ruling in the arch case but said she would do so “expeditiously.” AFP