The president’s latest attempt to rebuild Washington has just been presented to his handpicked art commission.
24K Gold Trump Coin: US Mint Design Approved
The U.S. Treasury Department is developing a 24K gold coin featuring a portrait of President Trump at the National Portrait Gallery.
From the White House to federal buildings, President Donald Trump’s transformation of Washington continued on April 10, as his administration released drawings for a 250-foot-tall “Arc de Triomphe” spanning the Potomac River from the National Mall.
The president first teased the idea in a Jan. 23 post to Truth Social, showing three renderings of the arch he wants to build across the Arlington Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial, each with slightly different features and less than half as tall.
In the version submitted to the Art Commission, the Arc de Triomphe features two 24-foot-tall golden eagles and a gold-winged angel atop them, and the words “One Nation Under God” on one side and “Liberty and Justice for All” on the other. Many people have pointed out that this Arc de Triomphe resembles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and some have even called it the “Trump Arch.” That’s because when CBS News asked Arch who would honor Trump, he answered, “Me.”
The Federal Design Commission, which President Trump appointed several members after firing six appointees by former President Joe Biden, will consider the project’s design next week.
An image-oriented government
President Trump pitched the project to coincide with the United States’ 250th anniversary in July, and its themes dovetail with the president’s larger efforts to redesign things, sometimes in his own image.
In March, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that President Trump’s signature would appear on all future U.S. banknotes, the first time such a signature has been done by a sitting president. To commemorate the anniversary, the department also plans to produce a $1 coin with Trump’s face on it, as well as a 24-karat gold commemorative coin with Trump’s likeness on it. Both plans have drawn criticism from Democrats and others for violating the nation’s founding norm, which prohibits listing living presidents on currency.
A month earlier, a giant banner depicting a glaring President Trump was erected on the facade of the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., with the phrase “Make America Safe Again” printed below the president’s face.
In 2025, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was renamed the Trump Kennedy Center.
The same art commission evaluating the arch has already approved the design for President Trump’s commemorative gold coin.
There’s also the White House itself. The former property demolished its famous rose garden to install a patio and demolished its east wing to make way for a $400 million ballroom, but the effort was hit by a recent ruling in which a federal judge issued a cease-and-desist order “without express permission from Congress.”
Legal questions and challenges
As with President Trump’s other redesigns, the Arch is not without opposition.
A group of Vietnam veterans who sued to block construction claim the Trump administration failed to follow a federal law that restricts new memorials in the area, one that requires a recommendation from the Secretary of the Interior or the General Services Administration in consultation with other committees.
The White House has not said how much the arch will cost, but the president has said he intends to use private funds to pay for it. He has also pledged to use private donations to pay for a new $400 million ballroom on the White House grounds, but some ethics advocates argue that giving donors business with the federal government invites corruption.
On April 6, the Election Legal Center filed a complaint with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia asking it to investigate whether lobbyists from 35 companies failed to report donations to Mr. Trump’s projects, including renovations to the White House Ballroom and the Kennedy-Trump Center.
