Why Donald Trump is being sued by a war veteran over ‘Arc de Trump’
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News
Madison Burgess
Featured Image Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News
Donald Trump is being sued by a group of veterans over his proposed 'Triumphal Arch'.
The US president, 79, unveiled his plans last year to build a humongous 250-foot arch among the historic monuments in Washington, D.C, to commemorate America's 250th anniversary.
He announced that the new addition would be built across from the Lincoln Memorial at the entrance of the Arlington Memorial Bridge.
Trump said at the time: "Every time somebody rides over that beautiful bridge to the Lincoln Memorial, they literally say something is supposed to be here."
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Nicknamed by some as the 'Arc de Trump,' its height would make it the tallest triumphal arch in the world and twice as high as the Lincoln Memorial.
And despite controversy, it was announced yesterday (16 April) that the Commission of Fine Arts has approved early designs for the project.
According to NBC News, the members of the panel were handpicked by the president.
But, a group of Vietnam veterans are suing the Republican leader as they believe the monument will obstruct views of Arlington National Cemetery, where more than 400,000 US soldiers are buried.
They also believe that a monument to celebrate 250 years of the country should honour service members, not individuals, and claim Trump had not sought proper approval for the arch.
As per The Independent, US Army veteran Michael Lemmon, the lead plaintiff in the case, said in a statement: "The president’s planned arch will be a continuous visual affront to this principle and a personal affront to people, like me, who have fought for this Nation and devoted their careers to serving it."
Fellow Vietnam veteran Jon Gunderson further explained the group's reasoning in a new interview with CNN, dubbing the arch 'a monument to a man'.
He explained: "What we wanted is something that honoured America, the 250th anniversary of our country. We wanted it to honour veterans.
"But what we saw was three times the size of the Lincoln Memorial, bigger than the Arc de Triomphe.
"If you go to Arlington National Cemetery, where all of our former veterans are buried, and you look at that sweep, and you see the Washington monument and Lincoln memorial, it's sacred ground.
"These monuments in Arlington and Vietnam, they honour the common soldier. They don't honour a man; they don't honour a general on horseback, they honour the country."
Gunderson affirmed: "We didn't want some vain, glorious attempt to do this. We don't approve that, of any certain arch, or anything like that. We just wanted a process; we wanted Congress to review it, the stakeholders to take a look at it, and the veterans to get a chance to look at it."
He argued: "You're going to see this massive 250-foot structure obscuring the view of the whole city. These iconic things that have all gone through congressional review have been bipartisan support.
"And here you have this large thing that's not a monument to a country or to veterans. It's a monument to a man, and having been in a totalitarian society where we don't have the rule of law, we have a single person making decisions."
The veteran explained how the group 'want people to think about this' as the monument 'should last for generations'.
"It shouldn't be a monument that's just there for one president's term. It should be a monument that kids come and see in many generations," he said.
White House Spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement: "There is nothing controversial about celebrating America’s 250th anniversary and building a glorious structure to celebrate the Triumphs of the American people.
"The Triumphal Arch in Memorial Circle is going to be one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world.
"It will enhance the visitor experience at Arlington National Cemetery for veterans, the families of the fallen, and all Americans alike, serving as a visual reminder of the noble sacrifices borne by so many American heroes throughout our 250 year history so we can enjoy our freedoms today.”