New Delhi: French President Emmanuel Macron has responded to US President Donald Trump’s proposed triumphal arch in Washington, saying a new monument can surpass the legacy of Paris’s Arc de Triomphe.
In an interview with ABC News anchor David Muir, Macron was asked about Trump’s triumphal arch for Washington DC which Trump claims would blow the Paris monument away “in every way.”
“Is it gonna blow it away?” Muir asked.
“No,” Macron replied. “Paris will remain Paris and the Arc de Triomphe will remain the Arc de Triomphe… These monuments are bigger than ourselves.”
Macron said he had seen pictures of Trump’s proposed structure and had discussed the Arc de Triomphe with the US president “several times”.
Trump’s planned 250-foot arch is to be built near the Arlington Memorial Bridge, between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. The project is part of Trump’s plans for the US 250th anniversary.
The proposal has also evolved beyond its original conception as a monument. Trump has said the arch would become a “top-grade military complex”, with space for drones and snipers and storage for ammunition.
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Trump’s ‘Arc de Trump’
Journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, in Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, have described the proposed monument as part of Trump’s interest in leaving a mark on Washington.
According to the book, Trump became “obsessed over building another immense new monument inspired by the Arc de Triomphe.”
“The project was already being referred to inside the White House as the Arc de Trump,” the authors write.
The authors also compare it to the original Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806 to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz.
“The triumphal arch — completed long after Bonaparte’s death — would take on a more complicated meaning as a symbol of French history and the French people,” the authors write.
According to Haberman and Swan, when Trump was asked in October 2025 who the arch was for, his answer was: “Me.”
The proposed structure has become part of a broader debate over Trump’s plans to reshape Washington’s monumental landscape.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)