Federal judge halts Trump’s triumphal arch hours after planning panel approves it

A federal judge has stopped work on President Donald Trump’s planned triumphal arch in Washington for two weeks, only hours after a federal planning body gave the project its last sign-off. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued the temporary restraining order early on Friday, Axios and Fox News reported.

The National Capital Planning Commission had voted 8-4 on Thursday to approve the 250-foot structure, which is modeled on the Arc de Triomphe and would stand near Arlington National Cemetery. Axios said the vote followed a virtual hearing that ran more than nine hours and heard from over 100 people, among them veterans, relatives of those buried at Arlington and the head of the D.C. Preservation League.

What the order covers

According to Axios, the ruling bars building, digging, ground disturbance, utility installation and road closures tied to the arch. The administration has until Monday, Nov. 9, to certify to the court that it is complying.

Chutkan acted on a request from the District of Columbia and Virginia, Fox News reported. Their cases have been combined with an earlier suit by a group of Vietnam veterans and an architectural historian. The plaintiffs argue that the administration lacks the congressional authorization it needs and has not met federal requirements, Axios said.

Earlier in the week the same judge told the government to inform the court within half an hour of any arch-related activity beginning. Axios noted that the government had said the Maryland-based contractor Grunley Construction Company might already be getting ready to start work in anticipation of approval.

Support and opposition

Mark Paoletta, the commission’s Trump-appointed chairman, defended the project at the meeting. “President Trump understands as president and a superb builder that it’s important to our national identity to display who we are through grand monuments,” he said, according to Fox News. He added that Paris, Rome and London all have arches.

Euronews reported that Democratic Representative Jared Huffman urged the commission to reject the plan, saying the arch “would dishonour America, our ideals and our laws.” Greg Wischer of the Interior Department countered that it would fulfil a century-old plan for a monumental work on Columbia Island.

Critics also say the structure would overshadow the cemetery, disturb the link between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington, snarl traffic and raise airspace safety concerns at Reagan National Airport, Axios said.

Military role and what comes next

Trump has said the arch would double as a military complex able to launch large numbers of drones, with snipers on the roof and plaza and sniper ammunition in storage, Euronews and Fox News noted. Axios pointed out that the final plans sent to the commission did not show any of those features.

The administration says the build would take two to three years, with crews working 20 hours a day. The judge is still weighing the separate legal challenges, and the White House did not immediately respond to Axios’s request for comment. Axios added that some Democratic lawmakers have suggested they will make it harder for Trump to advance his Washington projects once they take control of Congress in January.