By Nathan Layne and Anusha Shah
Sept 20 (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump said on Sunday the triumphal arch he plans to build near Washington would double as a "military complex" housing drones and snipers, making it the second major construction project he has sought to justify on national security grounds.
The move, which Trump said came at the military's request, echoed the national security rationale he has used to defend the roughly $400 million ballroom complex being built on the site of
the White House's former East Wing. He did not identify any specific threats.
The arch and ballroom are part of Trump's broader effort to remake the nation's capital, including the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the redevelopment of a golf course in East Potomac Park, and a push to add his name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The initiatives have drawn criticism from preservationists and others who argue they would alter some of Washington's most prominent historic landmarks.
In a social media post, Trump said that at the "strong request" of the military he had agreed to turn the planned 250-foot (76-meter) arch "into a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch, to house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage."
A US military official told Reuters that the Defense Department had nothing to add beyond Trump's social media post. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump did not elaborate on why such capabilities would be needed at the arch, modeled on Paris' Arc de Triomphe and sited near Arlington National Cemetery, just across the Potomac River from Washington. He has similarly recast the ballroom as a national security project, with plans for a drone facility, bomb shelters and other military installations intended to protect Washington.
EXPERT QUESTIONS MILITARY RATIONALE
Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel, said that while there was a stronger case for enhancing security at the White House, including expanding underground bunker facilities, the rationale for militarizing the arch was harder to discern.
Cancian said the move appeared aimed at countering opposition to the monument, which is planned for a traffic circle just 1 mile (1.6 km) from Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, an active Army installation, and 2 miles from the Pentagon.
"It looks like it's tacked on in order to strengthen the rationale for construction," Cancian, a senior adviser with the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, told Reuters. "There is this military facility long established with a variety of military capabilities one mile away. So why you need this one isn't clear."
Cancian also said that storing ammunition at the arch would create logistical challenges and questioned the value of positioning snipers there.
LEGAL CHALLENGES MOUNT
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan earlier this month ordered the Trump administration to give 48 hours' notice before engaging in any activity on the site of the arch, which Trump proposed to mark the nation's 250th anniversary. Her ruling came a day after the Interior Department announced plans to move forward with work on the arch despite legal challenges and the lack of final approval from a government planning authority.
Aviation experts have raised safety concerns given its proximity to Reagan Washington National Airport while veterans have sued to block the arch, arguing it would destroy the carefully designed historic sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
The Federal Aviation Administration said last week that the arch would not pose a hazard to aircraft as long as the structure is topped with an "eternal flame."
US Representative Don Beyer, a Democrat whose Virginia district includes Arlington National Cemetery, posted on Sunday that operating drones so close to the airport would be dangerous and impractical, and suggested the move was aimed at bolstering the administration's legal position.
"Trump clearly expects to lose a lawsuit and therefore wants to set up a pretext to argue that the arch is tied to national security," Beyer, who has introduced legislation to block the arch's construction, wrote in a social media post.
(Reporting by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru, Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut, and Humeyra Pamuk and Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Sergio Non, Toby Chopra and Matthew Lewis)
