STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The president altered the stated purpose of a planned triumphal arch in Washington.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
He first proposed it as a monument to America's 250th anniversary. But it's also a monument to his effort to reshape the Capitol. But in the face of legal difficulty, the president came up with a social media post. He says the arch will now be a military base for drones, snipers and ammunition.
INSKEEP: NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez is covering this latest development. Franco, good morning.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: OK, so what is the context for the president's sudden change of plans for this arch?
ORDOÑEZ: I mean, the context is court action. I mean, at the beginning of the month, the administration announced that construction would actually begin within two weeks. And then a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to give 48 hours' notice before engaging in any activity on the site. So that slowed things down. The new plan, as Trump laid out in a social media post, is to, quote, house, store and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas."
INSKEEP: OK. So this arch is a national security move now, according to the Truth Social post, which sounds like claims that Trump made about his ballroom complex when it was blocked in court.
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, I mean, it's a very similar argument. The president claimed that the military actually called for this, for the arch, but he's provided no details. I spoke with Mark Cancian. He's a retired Marine Corps colonel and military expert at the Center for Strategic International Studies. He's really questioning the reasoning for this, pointing out that Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall is just a mile away. The Pentagon is close by. And he says the national security considerations for the arch and the White House are just not the same.
MARK CANCIAN: The ballroom has a bunker, a large facility for the president underneath it. The difference is that the bunker reflects a widely accepted need to protect the president. It's bipartisan. There already was a bunker. This would be more elaborate. There doesn't seem to be any need - there certainly hasn't been any need articulated beforehand - about why this facility would need drones and snipers.
INSKEEP: Franco, as you know, the construction of the arch is also part of a lawsuit brought by veterans. And one of their arguments is that it disrupts the sight line. You have this symbolic view in Washington from the Lincoln Memorial, across the river to the former home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. It speaks symbolically to the reunion of this country after the Civil War. But are the veterans the only ones concerned here?
ORDOÑEZ: No, actually, a lot of people are concerned, and that's partially because it's so big. And it's just one of several projects that could change the Washington landscape. I mean, polls show most voters don't want this. I mean, we've already spoken about the ballroom, which is going to be a massive structure that changes the dynamics of the White House. Trump's also paved over the rose garden. He's installing a granite helipad on the South Lawn. And he's threatening to rip down the Kennedy Center.
INSKEEP: Well, how does all of that fit into his effort to expand executive power?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, I mean, in this case, he's essentially ignoring many of the traditional processes in place, you know, skipping Congress and taking what is a very liberal interpretation of his own executive authority - and, frankly, daring those opposed to him to try to stop him. And like the ballroom, many fear that he will move too quickly, much more quickly than the courts can respond, to the point where it just gets very, very hard to kind of turn the clock back or stop or slow the project to make a difference.
INSKEEP: NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Pleasure to hear from you, sir.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
