Judge complicates construction timeline on Trump's memorial arch project with multiple deadlines

WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge on Monday complicated President Donald Trump’s efforts to plow forward on construction of a memorial arch, setting multiple notification deadlines before any work can begin.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration plans, said she must be told of any decision by the National Capital Planning Commission within an hour. The order set the same time limits for any decision by the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior.

All three are part of a process the administration laid out in notifying the court of its plans Oct. 28 pending approval Nov. 5 of the construction by the National Capital Planning Commission. The government’s notice said construction could begin once that approval was finished, the Interior Department issued a final decision authorizing construction and the proper notification was published. “NPS may publish such notice as early as November 5, 2026, and construction could commence as early as November 5, 2026,” the notice said.

Chutkan, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, said “defendants shall also provide notice within thirty minutes of any activity related to or in preparation for the construction of an arch on Memorial Circle. Defendants are reminded that any construction or demolition in preparation for construction before the National Park Service issues final agency action authorizing construction or without 14 days’ notice would be a violation of the court’s previous orders.”

The motion is the latest wrinkle in what was a flurry of court activity over the weekend. Chutkan was already considering a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit filed by three Vietnam veterans and an architectural historian when the District of Columbia and Virginia filed a separate lawsuit opposing the construction and seeking a temporary restraining order.

The judge consolidated the cases and set up a joint briefing schedule, indicating that her decision will likely be triggered by the Planning Commission meeting.

On Friday, the government submitted a 106-page plan for the arch that envisions a massive structure more than 12 stories high that includes a huge bronze statue of Lady Liberty with wings and carrying a torch with an eternal flame. The structure would include an observation deck with views to the east and west, an “occupied roof” and two mezzanines.

Inside the arch are rooms for program space, offices, a staff lounge, circular staircases, multiple elevators and a “fire command center.” The project proposes significant traffic changes in the area, including rerouting traffic on nearby roads. Administration officials have said the arch also will have a national security function.

During the hearing Oct. 30 Chutkan asked what the urgency was and how would the government be harmed “apart from the executive’s desire to bedazzle the city” if she issued a preliminary injunction while the lawsuit plays out. Administration lawyer Robert Stander said the arch was “absolutely a high priority project” and were Chutkan to step in, that would impede the work of the government.

The arch is one of several projects around Washington that President Donald Trump has undertaken as he remakes the city, from renovating one of its storied public golf courses to threatening to demolish the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Charles A. Birnbaum, founding President and CEO of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, one of the organizations challenging administration projects, said Chutkan's order sends a message: “The administration is learning they cannot ignore the judiciary in the way they've ignored the public.”