US President Donald Trump has praised India’s Triumphal Arch, India Gate, while reiterating his ambition to build what he says would be the world’s "greatest" triumphal arch in Washington, DC, as part of a broader reshaping of the US capital.
“India’s beautiful Triumphal Arch. Ours will be the greatest of them all!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on 2 February 2026.
‘Biggest one of all’
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One a day earlier, Trump said he wanted the US capital to have the “biggest one of all”, describing America as “the biggest and most powerful nation”.
“For 200 years, they wanted to build an arch,” Trump said. “Close to 57 cities around the world have triumphal arches, and Washington, DC — the only major city — still doesn’t.”
Work on a Triumphal Arch in Washington is expected to begin soon.
Arc de Trump plan takes shape
Trump first floated the idea publicly in October 2025, proposing a triumphal arch across from the Lincoln Memorial to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary next year.
The structure is dubbed “Arc de Trump” and the construction timeline has not been disclosed.
Trump has teased the project with architectural renderings displayed during an Oval Office meeting.
Inspired by Paris, placed by the Potomac
The proposed arch would be modelled on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and positioned to welcome visitors entering Washington from Arlington National Cemetery as they cross the Memorial Bridge.
“Every time somebody rides over that beautiful bridge to the Lincoln Memorial, they literally say something is supposed to be here,” Trump told donors. “We have versions of it… This is a mock-up.”
Renderings shown on the Resolute Desk depicted the Memorial Bridge, the Lincoln Memorial and a model arch placed on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. The final structure is expected to sit on federal land within Washington’s boundaries.
India reference highlighted by US envoy
Trump’s comments on India were echoed earlier by US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, who referenced Delhi’s India Gate during his arrival speech in India on 12 January 2026.
“I spoke with President Trump just yesterday, and I bring his warm wishes to all the people of India, especially his dear friend, the incredible Prime Minister, His Excellency Prime Minister Modi,” Gor said.
“I’d just driven past the beautiful India Gate,” he added. “The president has embarked on building a ballroom at the White House, but one of the additional projects that’s on his list is building something similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. And no offense to the French, but I think what we have here in Delhi might have even surpassed that.”
Part of wider White House makeover
The triumphal arch proposal is part of a broader second-term overhaul of Washington, including a gilded makeover of the White House, paving over the Rose Garden, construction of a $250 million ballroom, and the clearing of homeless encampments across the capital.
While plans for the arch are still evolving, Trump has repeatedly signalled that the monument would be a centrepiece of his vision for Washington as the country approaches its 250th anniversary.
