PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s government announced new austerity measures on Tuesday as the war in Iran disrupts critical oil supplies and drives up prices worldwide.
Officials in the troubled Caribbean country imposed a ban on the purchase of any new vehicles, will reduce fuel expenditures for public institutions and said that foreign travel will be limited to essential missions authorized by the prime minister.
In addition, security escorts will be limited to one vehicle in a country where gangs control an estimated 90% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and swaths of rural areas.
A statement signed by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé said that the measures will allow the government “to anticipate serious repercussions on the already fragile macroeconomic balance and public finances in particular.”
“The government has no choice but to further reduce state spending,” the statement said.
Poverty across Haiti has deepened as gangs continue to seize control of more territory since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
Countries around the world have taken other measures as the war rages on, including shifting to a four-day work week.
Passengers ride in a shared taxi as it makes its way through Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts on Thursday approved the design for the triumphal arch that President Donald Trump wants built at an entrance to the nation's capital, a key step in the project's process.
Commissioners, all appointed by Trump, acted despite overwhelming public opposition to the 250-foot arch, one of several projects that Trump is pursuing alongside a White House ballroom to leave his imprint on Washington.
“The building is beautiful,” the commission's chairman, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., said shortly before the vote on a design revised slightly from what was presented to the federal agency in April.
The arch would stand 250 feet tall (76 meters) from its base to a torch held aloft by a Lady Liberty-like figure on top of the structure. The statue would be flanked on top by two gilded eagles, but the four lions envisioned as guarding the base are now gone. The phrases “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All” would be inscribed in gold lettering atop either side of the monument.
A public observation deck on top would provide 360-degree views of the surroundings.
The commission’s vice chairman, architect James McCrery II, said in April that he preferred the arch without the figures on top, which would have reduced the arch's height by about 80 feet (24.4 meters). Critics of the project argue that the arch would dominate the skyline and disrupt views from the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington National Cemetery.
The arch would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial, which is 99 feet (30 meters) tall, and be close to half the height of the Washington Monument, an obelisk that is about 555 feet (169 meters) tall.
Commissioners were told at Thursday's meeting that Trump considered the suggestion to remove the statue “but elected not to pursue such an option.”
McCrery recommended doing away with the lions on the base and objected to plans for an underground tunnel for pedestrians to get to the arch, which would be built on a traffic circle. Both design elements have been removed.
Preliminary surveys and testing of the site began last week.
A group of veterans and a historian have sued the Trump administration in federal court to block construction on grounds that the arch would disrupt the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery, among other reasons.
The Republican president and his interior secretary, Doug Burgum, have argued that Washington is the only major Western world capital without such an arch. Burgum's department includes the National Park Service, which manages the plot where Trump wants to put the arch.
The president has said some of his other projects, such as adding a blue coating to the interior of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, will beautify the city in time for July 4 celebrations of America’s 250th birthday.
Trump's rehab of the Reflecting Pool is also the subject of a court challenge brought by The Cultural Landscape Foundation, which said the administration’s moves to repaint the bottom of the Reflecting Pool blue without first undergoing relevant reviews ran afoul of federal preservation laws governing historic sites.
The nonprofit group argued in a lawsuit filed last week that the changes at the Reflecting Pool are part of Trump’s broader effort to push through dramatic renovations in Washington without proper reviews and undermine the tone of the area.
A hearing in the case was scheduled for later Thursday in federal court in Washington.
Flags placed by workers are pictured in the Memorial Circle, where President Donald Trump has proposed building an arch to commemorate the United States' 250th anniversary, Friday, May 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
The Memorial Circle, where President Donald Trump has proposed building an arch to commemorate the United States' 250th anniversary is seen, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
