Friday's Morning Joe unloaded on President Trump’s planned 250-foot arch near Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, a project Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said was moving toward excavation within two weeks. The panel called it an “obscenity,” “grotesque,” “imperial,” a “manifestation of ego,” and a plan to “deface the nation’s capital.” No one dissented as they hoped for it to be toppled by the next president.
Co-host Willie Geist described the administration's strategy as similar to that regarding the White House ballroom fight: keep going, try to outrun the courts, break ground, “and by the time they catch up to you, it’s halfway done and there’s no turning back.”
“This is kind of the arch that no one asked for, except for President Trump,” Geist said.
Jonathan Lemire, noted that the arch sits between Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery on “arguably the most hallowed ground in this United States,” and “will completely obscure views of it.” He declared, “This arch is an obscenity.”
Geist noted the scale — Lincoln Memorial about 100 feet tall, the proposed arch 250 — and asked: where is Congress “when President Trump unilaterally decides to kind of deface the nation’s capital?”
Sam Stein piled on the opprobrium: “Is Jonathan right? Yes, it is grotesque, it’s imperial, it is a manifestation of ego, all the above.”
Stein opined that voters will care about the arch. Not that they're concerned with DC's skyline, but because “their lives are not getting better, they’re paying more for gas,” and the president “seems utterly distracted by all these vanity projects.”
At one point, Lemire donned his Democratic campaign consultant cap, and in the guise of a prediction, offered this suggestion:
I would suspect that a lot of Democratic presidential candidates will say, "Yeah, when I take the oath of office on January 20th, 2029, were I to win, one of the sounds you hear in the background are the jackhammers knocking that thing down.
'An Obscenity, Grotesque, Defacing' -- Morning Joe Attacks Trump's Arch pic.twitter.com/UYzvLivHPr
— Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) September 4, 2026
That is not “stop the project.” That is: win the election, raise your right hand, and start pulverizing a finished monument as the soundtrack of the transfer of power.
If Trump actually gets the arch built, the politics change. Taking jackhammers to it on Inauguration morning would not read as an act of architectural humility. It would be the spectacle of the new crowd erasing the last crowd. Even Americans who never asked for this arch, and who would have been happy to see it blocked, would still likely flinch at that image.
The image Lemire was flirting with was closer to Saddam's statue being pulled down by a cheering crowd, the world watching. Demolishing a completed arch on January 20, 2029 might thrill hard-core Trump haters. It would be a poor picture of American democracy to project to the world, and a terrible way to begin a presidency. But that seemed to be what the liberal media wanted.
Here's the transcript.
MS NOW
Morning Joe
9/4/26
6:20 am EDT
WILLIE GEIST: Construction on President Trump's controversial triumphal arch in Washington is set to begin within days. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum made the announcement yesterday on social media, writing, preparations are currently underway to begin excavation work over the next two weeks.
President Trump first unveiled plans last October to build the 250-foot arch near Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, saying it would be taller than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
The administration has said the monument is intended to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary. The project facing a federal lawsuit though, brought by three veterans and an architectural historian. They argue the administration lacks the required congressional authorization. The project was never approved by the Capital Planning Commission. he Justice Department is seeking to have the case dismissed.
So, Jonathan Lemire, this is kind of a whiff of the ballroom, which is, just keep going, try to outrun the courts, break ground, start building, and by the time they catch up to you, it's halfway done and there's no turning back.
But this is kind of the arch that no one asked for, except for President Trump. How do you suspect this is gonna end, and how's it going over in Washington?
JONATHAN LEMIRE: I mean, this arch is an obscenity. That's a sacred place, between Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, the monument to President Lincoln, and then across the river, you know, where he's almost in conversation with some of the soldiers there who served him as Commander-in-Chief and then subsequent Commanders-in-Chief.
This is, that is one of the, the cemetery, Willie, as you well know, is arguably the most hallowed ground in this United States. And this arch will completely obscure views of it. It's not just taller than the Arc de Triomphe, it will be twice the size of the Arc de Triomphe. It is an arch that no one wants except for President Trump. It is something, it is legally dubious whether he even has the authority to build this thing. I would argue it's far worse than the ballroom. The ballroom is really bad. That's the People's House, and he has razed it down.
And I think you're right, the strategy here is just build it and then claim it's too far along to stop. But Jeff Mason, there, I think this is something, people were very angry about the White House. People will be very angry about this. I, I think people are missing that, first of all, the arch there will completely change the look of Washington. It will be one of the tallest structures in a low-rise city. It will, it will change the view of the Mall, it will change the view of these important, sacred places.
And I would suspect that a lot of Democratic presidential candidates will say, "Yeah, when I take the oath of office on January 20th, 2029, were I to win, one of the sounds you hear in the background are the jackhammers knocking that thing down.
. . .
GEIST: Sam Stein, just to give people some perspective, the Lincoln Memorial is about a hundred feet tall. We're talking 250 feet tall for this Arc de Triomphe, or whatever they're calling it here in Washington.
But again, it raises the question, I guess, it's now a rhetorical one or a futile question, where is Congress in this? Where is Congress when we start wars? Where is Congress when tariffs are levied? Where is Congress when President Trump unilaterally decides to kind of deface the nation's capital?
. . .
SAM STEIN: Is Jonathan right? Yes, it is grotesque, it's imperial, it, it, it is a manifestation of ego, all the above. I would maybe dispute whether it's worse than bulldozing the East Wing, but it's close, you know, it's, it, it's right up there.
Does it matter materially to voters? And I actually think it does, not because voters are gonna look at this and say, "Oh my God, what's he doing? This is so ridiculous, he's ruining the DC skyline, it's a hallowed ground." gut because, precisely, the contrast that exists, where their lives are not getting better, they're paying more for gas, they are suffering, they want affordability to be tackled, and he seems utterly distracted by all these vanity projects.
