Exclusive: The FAA is evaluating risks to flights from Trump’s ‘triumphal arch’ | CNN Politics

The Trump administration has asked the FAA to evaluate the risks of building the president’s “triumphal arch” less than two miles from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, one of the busiest in the nation. According to documents obtained by CNN, the Department of Interior has requested a formal aeronautical study from the Federal Aviation Administration for the proposed 250-foot arch, which would be built in a patch of grass at the end of Memorial Bridge, across from the Lincoln Memorial. The request, submitted by the National Parks Service, a division of the Interior Department, notes that the total height of the structure will be 279 feet when the site elevation beneath the arch itself is considered. FAA regulations require structures that exceed 200 feet and positioned at a site that potentially interferes with airspace be subject to a review. The FAA has said it aims to complete these types of reviews within 45 to 90 days – but they typically take far longer, up to nine months. The FAA acknowledged that it had received the request and told CNN it had begun the study, but the agency declined to give a timeline for the review of the arch. Pilots must already navigat

May 12, 2026 → May 12, 2026