Judge Blocks Trump’s 250-Foot Arch After Plan Approved

Newsweek · Tom Sanders · 2026-11-05 17:37 UTC

A judge blocked construction of Trump's 250-foot arch for 14 days, shortly after a federal panel approved the controversial plans.

President Donald Trump’s proposed “triumphal arch” in Washington, D.C., was temporarily blocked from beginning construction shortly after it received final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued an order shortly before midnight Thursday barring the government from undertaking construction-related activity for 14 days. The decision came less than two hours after the federal planning commission approved the project in an 8-4 vote.

The temporary order prevents the administration from immediately starting work while legal challenges brought by the governments of Washington, D.C., and Virginia, along with a group of Vietnam War veterans and an architectural historian, move forward.

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