Congressman Cohen Finds No Evidence a Previous President Sought a Triumphal Arch in Washington

WASHINGTON - Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today released a statement in response to a detailed Congressional Research Service (CRS) report he requested that establishes no previous president has sought to build a triumphal arch in Washington.

Donald Trump proposed building one in October 2025 at a dinner for donors to his proposed ballroom. White House spokesman David Ingle later said: "President Trump is right. The American people for nearly 200 years have wanted an Arch in our Nation's capital to showcase our great history."

Today's CRS report concludes: "No specific statements referencing the need for an arch were identified that were attributable directly to a sitting President or their staff prior to 2025."

On July 31, 2025, the Trump White House released a statement saying: "For 150 years, Presidents…have longed for a large event space on the White House complex that can hold substantially more guests than currently allowed. President Donald J. Trump has expressed his commitment to solving this problem on behalf of future Administrations and the American people."

In December last year, Congressman Cohen received a CRS study he requested establishing that, contrary to President Trump's assertion, no previous president had sought to build a White House ballroom. A federal judge has ruled such a structure would require Congressional approval and a project now under construction has been suspended.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

"Donald Trump lies about a lot of things, but his messianic zeal to brand our capital city as a tribute to himself is not only beyond offensive, it is historically unprecedented. I received a report from the Congressional Research Service earlier today that says no president or White House staffer has ever proposed building a triumphal arch in Washington. Trump insists they have, and he's wrong. In December, I requested a similar CRS report after Trump's repeated assertions that presidents for the past 150 years had sought to build a White House ballroom. That CRS report indicated no previous president had sought one.

"We don't need an arch or a ballroom. Trump's ego is insatiable and his easily disproven lies are inexcusable. He must be denied these homages to himself."

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