WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump observed Veterans Day by suggesting that the towering arch he wants to build in his own honor would also be dedicated to the U.S. military and those who served in its ranks.
That's despite three veterans having sued to stop the project — which a federal court has since temporarily blocked. Some military groups have cheered the arch, but many others have opposed it or joined efforts to stop construction.
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President Donald Trump speaks during an event to mark Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Washington commuters drive South over the Memorial Bridge that spans the Potomac River toward a traffic circle at the entrance of Arlington National Cemetery, the proposed site for President Donald Trump's Triumphal Arch, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, as seen from the Washington Monument. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
A protest structure stands near Memorial Circle, the proposed site for a Triumphal Arch, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to mark Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Trump has said for months that the 250-foot (76-meter) arch set for construction near Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial would be inspired by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and might even be called the “Arc de Trump.”
He's also insisted that Washington has wanted a similar structure for centuries — even though that’s not true. In comments during an annual ceremony at Arlington Cemetery on Wednesday, however, Trump suggested it was actually veterans who had longed for an arch in the capital.
“And soon we’re going to dedicate a magnificent triumphal arc to our veterans," he said. “And that’s in honor of our great veterans and our great militaries." He added: “They've been waiting for it for 200 years.”
Though the arch received approval from oversight boards stacked with members chosen by Trump, the three veterans are among several entities suing to block the arch's construction. Nine family members of the Kennedy political dynasty are also seeking to stop the project, arguing that the arch would cast a shadow over their relatives’ gravesites at Arlington National Cemetery.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a temporary restraining order, prohibiting work for 14 days.
With Democrats soon taking control of Congress after big wins all over the country in last week's midterm elections, Trump’s renovation projects will encounter far more scrutiny and roadblocks — from his effort to put his own name on the Kennedy Center to remaking a public golf course and building his massive White House ballroom and the arch.
Despite the midterm defeats by his party and the potential legal and legislative hurdles, the White House has continued to promote the arch project.
That includes a slick website unveiled last week which proclaimed that it'd be known as the United States Military Triumphal Arch and was “long overdue, and has been sought for many years, especially by the Military.”
The website prominently displays a picture of and quote from Trump. It also features the word “Triumph” in gold cursive script recalling the typeface used at the president's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and similar flourishes that have been affixed to the White House as part of his overhaul of the Oval Office and West Wing.
The arch's plans call for its columns to store munitions and areas on the pedestal and observation deck to be set aside for a sniper's nest. Its base would be designed to launch drones, and the site says that the overall monument “will be Highly Secretive but, at the same time, a Top Level and Lethal structure, the likes of which has not been seen in this Country before.”
The website does not say how much the project will cost or how it will be paid for, although some estimates have reached as high as $100 million.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to mark Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Washington commuters drive South over the Memorial Bridge that spans the Potomac River toward a traffic circle at the entrance of Arlington National Cemetery, the proposed site for President Donald Trump's Triumphal Arch, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, as seen from the Washington Monument. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
A protest structure stands near Memorial Circle, the proposed site for a Triumphal Arch, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to mark Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected accusations that Israel has been delaying the entry of winter supplies into the Gaza Strip as severe rains flood makeshift tents, worsening conditions in the enclave this week.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said that a tanker caught fire after hitting a naval mine early on Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz. And Israel struck Gaza twice, killing three Palestinians.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Wednesday. Read our full coverage here.
Netanyahu denied that Israel was responsible for worsening conditions for Palestinians in Gaza's tent camps, which have been hit by severe winter flooding.
He instead blamed Hamas, saying the Palestinian militant group refuses to disarm and seizes humanitarian aid for military use. He provided no evidence for the aid seizure statement.
The prime minister's remarks came after the U.S.-created Board of Peace said Monday that Israel’s delays in allowing winter supplies into Gaza had “exacerbated the consequences of a foreseeable humanitarian challenge.”
The United Nations and other aid groups say more than 150,000 tents and pumps to remove floodwater are ready to enter Gaza, but Israel hasn't authorized their entry.
“No more delays,” Tom Fletcher, the U.N.'s humanitarian chief, said in an X post on Wednesday. “We are now seeing the consequences of delays, blockages and funding cuts: lives lost, a population once again at great risk."
Torrential rain has battered the war-torn enclave in recent days, damaging tens of thousands of makeshift tents. At least four people died Sunday when a large sandstone slab collapsed.
An Israeli strike on Wednesday morning killed one person in Gaza City, and a second later in the day killed two more people, according to Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were taken.
The Israeli military said that both strikes targeted military operatives. It didn't provide additional details.
Large-scale fighting has slowed since Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal in October 2025, but Israel continues to launch near-daily strikes that have killed more than 1,600 Palestinians.
Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot warned the prime minister to refrain from deploying Israeli forces in the absence of “a direct, immediate, and urgent threat” as he tries to form a new government following the country’s Oct. 27 election.
The former military general wrote in a letter that Netanyahu bears a "duty to exercise an extraordinary degree of caution” as he leads “a transitional government that no longer enjoys the confidence of the Knesset.”
Netanyahu dismissed Eisenkot’s warning as political gamesmanship. His political party won enough votes to remain Israel’s largest, but saw its grip on power weakened by election day losses.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said that a tanker caught fire early Wednesday after striking a naval mine while traveling along an unauthorized route through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway, Iranian state media reported.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, a British military agency that monitors maritime safety, said that a tanker was involved in an incident while transiting the strait.
The agency didn't identify the tanker. Further details, including the crew’s status, weren't immediately available. It was unclear whether the Iranian and UKMTO reports referred to the same incident.
Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for firing missiles toward the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh on Wednesday.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the rebels fired three cruise missiles towards King Khalid International Airport, which has been a frequent target of Houthi strikes in their monthslong revived war against Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies.
A Saudi military spokesman said earlier that they intercepted and destroyed three cruise missiles fired on the capital.
The Houthis said they also attacked a military camp for Saudi-backed forces outside the southern city of Aden, the seat of the country's internationally recognized government.
Houthi rebels held a mass funeral on Wednesday for the 44 people they say were killed near the Yemeni capital of Sanaa during recent airstrikes conducted by Saudi Arabia.
Associated Press images showed people mourning their loved ones, including seven members of the same family.
“They were women and children,” said Hamad al-Bas, a relative of one of the victims. "We must avenge their deaths, no matter how long it takes.”
The Saturday strikes, which wounded 40 others, were part of an escalation in fighting since the summer between the rebels and the Saudi-backed government forces.
A Cairo judge postponed the retrial of the editor-in-chief of one of Egypt’s last independent news outlets for a week after her defense lawyers asked him to recuse himself, the outlet said.
Lina Attalah, a co-founder and editor-in-chief of Mada Masr, is challenging a one-year prison sentence and a fine imposed in absentia on charges of operating a website without a license and spreading false news.
Mada Masr said Wednesday that her lawyers sought the judge’s recusal because he had ordered the outlet’s closure late last month in a separate case. Attalah's retrial is now scheduled for Nov. 18 while hearings on Mada Masr’s appeal against its closure begin on Nov. 25.
Mada Masr has investigated allegations of government corruption and human rights violations amid a widening media crackdown in Egypt.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
Palestinians gather beside their damaged tent a day after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians inspect damage to a building and tents a day after they were hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians inspect damage to a building and tents a day after they were hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians inspect damage to a building and tents a day after they were hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians inspect their damaged tent a day after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
