2026年7月12日 / 美国东部时间上午9:58 / 哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）新闻
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南希·科德斯 白宫首席通讯员
南希·科德斯是哥伦比亚广播公司新闻驻华盛顿特区的首席白宫通讯员。科德斯曾凭借其报道斩获众多奖项，包括多项艾美奖、爱德华·R·默罗奖以及阿尔弗雷德·I·杜邦-哥伦比亚大学奖。
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越南战争老兵肖恩·伯恩斯原本一直计划有朝一日能安葬在阿灵顿国家公墓。如今，他却没那么确定了。“我有资格安葬在这里，我的战友们也一样，”他说，“但我们都在重新考虑。这一切都要看那座拱门是否会建成。”
为什么？“这太不尊重人了，”伯恩斯说，“这是错误的。”
伯恩斯是起诉特朗普政府的三名退伍军人之一，起因是特朗普总统想要建造一座凯旋门，以庆祝美国建国250周年。这座拱门高达250英尺，比华盛顿特区的大多数建筑都要高，将矗立在波托马克河对岸的一个环岛处，紧邻阿灵顿国家公墓。
批评者认为，这座拱门会阻断这座内战时期修建的公墓与亚伯拉罕·林肯——终结那场战争的总统——纪念堂之间的历史视线。
伯恩斯表示，他之前从未打过这类官司：“但我被这件事激怒了。阿灵顿国家公墓里安葬着40万美国退伍军人。我们认为这是对他们的不尊重，尤其是出自一个曾称志愿服役、身着军装参加过各种战争的美国人为‘ suckers（蠢货）’和‘losers（失败者）’的人。所以，我们采取了这个行动。”
特朗普总统否认曾说过这番话。
这座拱门只是特朗普总统按照自己的愿景重塑美国首都的举措之一。如今，他的头像装饰在多座政府建筑上，同时他 overseeing 该市数十个项目——他表示这些项目将让这座城市“更加美丽”。
到目前为止，他已经翻新了国家广场的倒影池……制定了改造波托马克河沿岸公共高尔夫球场的计划……还提议新建一座拥有250座雕塑的“英雄花园”。
特朗普总统去年出人意料地拆除了白宫东翼；他的名字还被加到了肯尼迪中心的建筑上（此后一名法官下令移除该名字）。
文化景观基金会首席执行官兼总裁、华盛顿特区历史核心区专家查尔斯·伯恩鲍姆表示，这座城市的设计是有目的的，“就像一床棉被，世世代代以来，城市的设计和规划都在为这床棉被添砖加瓦，以尊重其骨架结构，并理解它在250年历史这个大拼图中的位置。”
伯恩鲍姆表示，每一个新项目都经过精心设计，以避免干扰“棉被”上的其他区块。“无论是拱门还是宴会厅，这些都是大型建筑，正被强行安置在具有象征意义的空间里，这些空间讲述着我们作为一个民族的身份认同，”他说，“它们还象征着视野如何才能不受干扰；白宫草坪上的光影如何不是用于施工的开放空间……这些空间实际上都在服务于特定的用途。”
随着特朗普总统的项目数量和规模不断增加，相关诉讼也越来越多，这些诉讼涉及缺乏公众意见征询或国会授权，以及使用无竞标合同来“加快”施工进度。
已对政府提起六起诉讼的华盛顿特区保护联盟执行董事丽贝卡·米勒表示，特朗普可能在这些项目上行动迅速，因为他在考虑自己的遗产。“但这座城市不是他的私人资产，”她说。
而项目推进过快还会带来后果：“你看看倒影池，已经出现了问题，密封胶脱落、藻类大量繁殖等等，”米勒说。
特朗普政府将白宫场地的工程称为“延期维护和修缮”。米勒回应道：“好吧，拆除整个东翼可不是‘延期维护’。有人说‘那里充斥着各种石棉和含铅油漆’。但我们从未见过相关报告。”
事实上，部分据称含有有毒物质的垃圾被倾倒在了附近的一个公园内。
到目前为止，所有这些美化和修复工程的成本已超过1亿美元，预计将增至近10亿美元，资金来自公共和私人来源。至少有8000万美元从我们的国家公园中挪用。
内政部在一份声明中告诉《星期日早间新闻》：“伟大的国家会建造美丽的建筑和艺术作品，以培养民族自豪感和爱国情怀。”点击下方查看内政部的完整声明。
负责审查拟议的白宫宴会厅等项目的美国美术委员会，如今完全由特朗普任命的人员组成。他们在不到两个月的时间内就批准了该宴会厅项目。
“我们很幸运，现在有一位‘ Builder President（建造者总统）’，他欣赏杰斐逊的风格，让这座城市成为里根总统所说的‘山上的光辉之城’，”该委员会主席罗德尼·米姆斯·库克说。
一些曾与哥伦比亚广播公司新闻交谈过的规划师认为，美术委员会已经沦为特朗普总统的橡皮图章。“他们错了，”库克回应道，“因为总统会听取我们的意见，我和总统的对话是保密的，但他乐在其中。他对此非常了解。”
当被问及为何委员会在没有这类重要项目典型的公众意见征询的情况下如此迅速地批准了宴会厅项目时，库克说：“白宫的建筑面积不足以应对美利坚合众国的总统职位。自哈里森总统任期以来就一直有人抱怨，如今又有了无人机和试图袭击领导人的人，这是一个重大的安全问题。”
库克也是华盛顿特区拱门项目的推动力量之一。事实上，他位于亚特兰大的办公室就坐落在一座类似他希望在首都建造的拱门上。“我26年前以普通公民的身份提出了这个提议，”他说，“因为它最终将成为阿灵顿公墓事实上的入口，而目前的入口不够理想。”
当被问及是否可以将拱门放在华盛顿的其他地方，远离阿灵顿时，库克说：“在整个哥伦比亚特区，再也找不到比这个地方更开阔的空间来建造一座尺度合适的拱门了。它比凯旋门还高两英尺。凯旋门高164英尺，被一座庞大的城市环绕。而这里被公园绿地环绕。”
他所在的委员会已于5月批准了拱门项目。另一个关键批准可能最早在9月到来，而包括肖恩·伯恩斯在内的一些反对者将其戏称为“特朗普凯旋门”。
“我们还有其他几位总统的标志性纪念碑——华盛顿、林肯、杰斐逊，”伯恩斯说，“它们都不是由这三位中的任何一位下令或指导建造的。它们是在他们去世后才建成的。这座纪念碑却并非如此。”
当被问及是否认为特朗普先生想要一座属于自己的纪念碑时，伯恩斯笑着说：“你不这么认为吗？”
内政部发言人声明全文：
“伟大的国家会建造美丽的建筑和艺术作品，以培养民族自豪感和爱国情怀。秉承这一传统，伯戈姆部长非常高兴能倡导美国凯旋门项目，这将是一项所有美国人都能引以为傲的工程。在美国建国250周年之际，特朗普总统希望实现这一愿景，建造这座凯旋门，以庆祝美国人民的胜利，激发爱国主义和爱国情怀，并美化我们的国家首都。这座拱门还将提升阿灵顿国家公墓对退伍军人、阵亡将士家属以及所有美国民众的访客体验，作为一个视觉提醒，铭记在我们250年历史中无数美国英雄所做出的崇高牺牲，让我们如今能够享受自由。
“一些历史背景：
“一百多年来，国会和各个委员会一直计划在哥伦比亚岛——美国凯旋门的所在地——建造一座纪念性建筑。1902年，美国参议院‘麦克米兰委员会’呼吁‘在纪念大桥的西端建立一处适合纪念性处理的广场’。
“1924年，国会阿灵顿纪念大桥委员会表示：‘[哥伦比亚岛]一直被认为是适合进行正式公园改造的场地，是纪念大桥的合适终点，本身也是一项重要景观。’具体而言，该委员会呼吁‘修建一个广场，并配以适当的建筑装饰，作为河对岸林肯纪念堂的补充’。
“尽管国会有此意图，该场地后来却变成了一个荒芜的环岛，缺乏纪念性处理和重要的历史价值。根据1924年阿灵顿纪念大桥委员会的报告，从阿灵顿纪念大桥通往阿灵顿国家公墓的路线本应作为一条宏伟的入口通道——‘英雄大道’，‘供国家的阵亡英雄前往阿灵顿国家公墓的最终安息之地’。
“1932年，查尔斯·摩尔——长期担任美术委员会主席，且 Notably 曾是麦克米兰委员会的书记员——敦促哥伦比亚岛‘不应从[其]预定的崇高地位沦落为 mere thoroughfare（普通通道）’。……‘岛屿中心应以纪念性方式进行改造’。
“同样，尤利西斯·S·格兰特三世——国家首都公园和规划委员会成员，也是前总统、联邦军胜利将领的孙子——在二战后谴责哥伦比亚岛的状态是‘一条临时道路和一个非正式环岛’。他哀叹道，‘哥伦比亚岛的中央广场从未动工，而这似乎是连接该项目两部分——即主桥本身和阿灵顿公墓入口——的绝对必要条件’。”
Trump’s monumental reimagining of Washington, D.C.
July 12, 2026 / 9:58 AM EDT / CBS News
By
Nancy Cordes Chief White House Correspondent
Nancy Cordes is CBS News’ chief White House correspondent based in Washington, D.C. Cordes has won numerous awards for her reporting, including multiple Emmys, Edward R. Murrow awards, and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award.
Read Full Bio
Vietnam veteran Shaun Byrnes had always planned to one day be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Now, he’s not so sure. “I’m entitled to be buried there, and so are my colleagues,” he said. “But we’re all reconsidering. It’s gonna depend on whether this arch goes up.”
Why? “It’s disrespectful,” Byrnes said. “It’s wrong.”
Byrnes is one of three veterans suing the Trump administration over a triumphal arch President Trump wants to build to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. At 250 feet, it would be taller than most buildings in D.C., and would stand just across the Potomac River in a traffic circle, at the base of Arlington National Cemetery.
A rendering of President Trump’s proposed 250-foot-tall triumphal arch, that would be built between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. Harrison Design/CFA Rendering
Critics argue the arch would obstruct historic sightlines between the cemetery that was built during the Civil War, and the memorial to Abraham Lincoln, the man who ended that war.
Byrnes says he’s never done anything like this lawsuit before: “But I was angered by it. There are 400,000 American veterans buried at Arlington National Cemetery. We thought this was disrespectful, particularly coming from a man who called Americans who’d volunteered and served, wore the uniform in various wars, ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’ So, we took this step.”
President Trump has denied making this comment.
CBS News
The arch is just one way President Trump is seeking to remake the nation’s capital in his vision. His face now adorns multiple government buildings, as he oversees dozens of projects around the city – projects he says will make the city “more beautiful.”
So far, he has resurfaced the National Mall’s reflecting pool … made plans to overhaul the public golf course along the Potomac River … and proposed a new “Garden of Heroes” featuring 250 sculptures.
Mr. Trump demolished the East Wing of the White House in a surprise move last year; and his name was added to the Kennedy Center. (A judge has since ordered its removal.)
Construction crews remove the East Wing of the White House and prepare for ballroom construction, Nov. 14, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Andrew Leyden/Getty Images
Charles Birnbaum, CEO and president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation and an expert on Washington, D.C.’s historic core, says the city was designed with purpose, “like a quilt, and for generations the city’s design and planning has contributed to that quilt to honor its bone structure, and to understand its place in this mosaic of 250 years.”
Birnbaum says every new project is meticulously designed to avoid interfering with the other patches on the quilt. “Whether it’s the arch or the ballroom, these are massive objects that are being forced upon spaces that have symbolism, that tell the story of who we are as a people,” he said. “And they also symbolize how the viewshed can be uninterrupted; how light and shadow across a lawn at the White House is not open space for construction. … The space is actually there satisfying a purpose.”
As the number and scale of President Trump’s projects have mounted, so have the lawsuits over the lack of public input or Congressional authorization, and over the use of no-bid contracts to “speed up” construction.
Algae is seen in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, June 25, 2026 in Washington, D.C., after a $14.7 million no-bid contract was awarded to resurface the pool. Win McNamee/Getty Images
Rebecca Miller, executive director of the D.C. Preservation League, which has filed six lawsuits against the administration, says Mr. Trump may be acting quickly on these projects because he is thinking about his legacy. “But the city isn’t his own personal portfolio,” she said.
And then there are the consequences of projects moving too quickly: “You have the Reflecting Pool, which already has been compromised, from the sealant coming up and the algae blooms and whatnot,” Miller said.
The Trump administration has referred to work on the White House grounds as “deferred maintenance and repairs.” Miller responded, “Well, demolishing the entire East Wing isn’t ‘deferred maintenance.’ There’s been notes of, ‘Oh, it was terribly ridden with all kinds of asbestos and lead paint.’ But we’ve not seen those reports.”
In fact, some of that allegedly toxic debris was dumped in a nearby park.
The cost for all this beautification and restoration has topped $100 million so far, and is projected to grow to nearly $1 billion, with the money coming from both public and private sources. At least $80 million has been diverted from our national parks.
In a statement, the Department of the Interior told “Sunday Morning”: “Great nations build beautiful structures and works of art that cultivate national pride and love of country.” See below for the full statement from the Interior Department.
A model of the White House with the planned ballroom to replace the East Wing is seen during a meeting between President Donald Trump and Mark Rutte, secretary general of NATO, at the White House, Oct. 22, 2025. At 90,000 sq. ft., the ballroom would be nearly twice as large as the main White House building. Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Commission of Fine Arts, the body responsible for reviewing projects like the proposed White House ballroom, is now made up entirely of Trump appointees. They approved the ballroom in less than two months.
“We are lucky at this point to have a ‘builder president’ who appreciates the style of Jefferson, to have that city be President Reagan’s ‘shining city on a hill,’” said Rodney Mims Cook, chair of the commission.
Some planners who have spoken to CBS News argued that the Commission of Fine Arts has become a rubber stamp for President Trump. “They’re wrong,” Cook responded. “Because the president listens to us, and we’ve had – my conversations with the president are confidential, but he enjoys this. He is very educated about it.”
Asked why the commission approved the ballroom so quickly without the public input typical of a project this important, Cook said, “The White House is an insufficient building footprint for the presidency of the United States. It’s been complained about since the Harrison presidency, and now with drones and people who tend to shoot at leaders, it’s a security problem of a major note.”
Cook has also been one of the driving forces behind an arch in Washington, D.C. In fact, his Atlanta-based office is located on top of an arch similar to the one he’d like to see in the nation’s capital. “I proposed it as a private citizen 26 years ago,” he said, “because it will ultimately become the de facto gateway into Arlington Cemetery, and the current gateway into it is insufficient.”
Asked about putting the arch somewhere else in Washington, away from Arlington, Cook said, “You couldn’t have a more open space in the entire District of Columbia than that space for such a properly-scaled arch. It’s two feet higher than the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe is 164 feet tall, and it is surrounded by a massive city. This is surrounded by parkland.”
His commission signed off on the arch in May. Another key approval could come as early as September for what some opponents, like Shaun Byrnes, have dubbed the “Arc de Trump.”
“We have several other iconic monuments to presidents – Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson,” said Byrnes. “They were not built at the orders or direction of any of those three men. They were built after they were deceased. This is not the case with this monument.”
Asked if he thinks Mr. Trump wants a monument to himself, Byrnes laughed: “You don’t?”
From a Department of Interior spokesperson:
“Great nations build beautiful structures and works of art that cultivate national pride and love of country. In this tradition, Secretary Burgum is thrilled to champion the United States Triumphal Arch which will be a project that all Americans can be proud of. In America’s 250th year, President Trump wants to fulfill this vision and build the Triumphal Arch to celebrate the triumphs of the American people, inspires patriotism and love of country, and beautify our nation’s capital. The arch will also enhance the visitor experience at Arlington National Cemetery for veterans, the families of the fallen, and all Americans alike, serving as a visual reminder of the noble sacrifices borne by so many American heroes throughout our 250-year history so we can enjoy our freedoms today.
“Some historical background:
“Dating back over 100 years, Congress and various commissions intended for a monumental work to adorn Columbia Island—the location of the Triumphal Arch. In 1902, the U.S. Senate “McMillan Commission” called for “a concourse suited to memorial treatment be established” on the westerly terminus of the Memorial Bridge.
“In 1924, the congressional Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission said, “[Columbia Island] was always considered as a suitable site for formal park treatment, a fitting end for the Memorial Bridge, as well as an important feature in itself.” Specifically, the commission called for “a plaza with fitting architectural adornment in a measure supplemental to the Lincoln Memorial across the river.”
“Despite Congress’s intent, the site became a barren traffic circle lacking monumental treatment and significant historic value. The route extending from Arlington Memorial Bridge to Arlington National Cemetery was meant to serve as a grand entryway—an Avenue of Heroes— “for the Nation’s fallen heroes to their last resting place in the Arlington National Cemetery,” according to the 1924 Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission report.
“In 1932, Charles Moore—the longtime chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts and, notably, former clerk for the McMillan Commission—urged that Columbia Island “should not be suffered to fall from [its] intended high estate into a mere thoroughfare. … [T]he center of the island is to be treated in monumental fashion.”
“Similarly, Ulysses S. Grant III—a member of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission and grandson of the former president and victorious Union general—decried the state of Columbia Island after World War II as a “temporary road with an informal circle.” He lamented that that “the central plaza on Columbia Island had never been undertaken and seems to be absolutely essential to link together the two parts of the project, namely the main bridge itself and the entrance to Arlington Cemetery.” “