President Donald Trump is again citing national security to justify a signature construction project, this time applying the rationale he used for the White House ballroom to a proposed triumphal arch near Arlington Memorial Bridge. The move comes after he faced backlash over the demolition of the White House East Wing, which had long housed the first lady's offices, to make way for the ballroom, a project he defended by calling it essential to national security.

The setting underscores why the proposal has become a flashpoint. Arlington Memorial Bridge spans the Potomac River as the ceremonial approach to Arlington National Cemetery, the burial ground for more than 400,000 American service members, veterans and their families. Triumphal arches themselves trace to ancient Rome, where the monuments were built to commemorate military victories — a tradition carried on most famously by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

"President Trump knows that one way to gain advantage in the legal fight over a controversial construction project is to link it to a military need," Kyle Cheney of Politico posted on X on Sunday. Cheney then quoted Trump's message on the president's own Truth Social platform.

"At the strong request of the United States Military, and for National Security purposes, I have agreed to convert the magnificent Triumphal Arch, planned since the Civil War Era many years ago, at the Receptive Circle adjoining the Arlington Memorial Bridge, into a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch, to house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage," Trump said. "There will be no facility like this anywhere in the World. Out of the 59 top cities and Capitals, Washington, D.C., IS THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD THAT DOES NOT HAVE A TRIUMPHAL ARCH, but it will now and, by far, the greatest of them all! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP"

The arch plan has drawn criticism from veterans, who say the project would show disrespect to those who gave their lives protecting the country.

"For me, Arlington has been a nice quiet place," Karen Meredith said in a video from Vote Vets, a veterans advocacy organization. Meredith's son, First Lt. Ken Ballard, was killed during the Iraq War in 2004. "We don't need tourists overlooking funerals. I'm just appalled."

Numerous other veterans have echoed Meredith's concerns, arguing that the arch would figuratively and literally overshadow the cemetery honoring America's fallen service members. Arlington hosts funeral services for the fallen throughout the year — the scenes opponents a 250-foot monument would loom over.

Despite the widespread opposition from veterans, Trump has filled federal regulatory agencies with loyalists who are willing to approve his plans.

"For decades, the planning commission reviewing construction projects in Washington has stood by the principle that the federal law limiting the height of buildings in the capital applies to federal projects," New York Times reporters Luke Broadwater, Emily Badger and Junho Lee wrote in July. "But now that President Trump has proposed building a giant triumphal arch, the commission, which is led by Trump allies, is considering a different, more lenient view. On Thursday, (July 9), the National Capital Planning Commission will consider a new interpretation of the 1910 Height of Buildings Act: that it was never meant to apply to federal projects, and certainly not to Mr. Trump's 250-foot arch."

The 1910 Height of Buildings Act has capped building heights across the District of Columbia for more than a century, giving Washington its famously low skyline. The commission's July 9 session will be the first test of that new reading, and its outcome will help determine whether the height law still constrains federal construction in the capital — and, with it, whether the arch can move forward as planned.