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Protesters rally against Trump's triumphal arch, deriding it as a vanity project

Opponents of President Donald Trump's planned triumphal arch gathered near Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday (October 1), denouncing the monument as a "vanity project" and arguing it would disrespect veterans and alter the historic landscape surrounding the military cemetery. Dozens of demonstrators lined both sides of a busy roadway near the proposed site, carrying signs reading "No Trump Arch," "Hands Off This Hallowed Ground" and "Respect Our Veterans."

Protesters chanted "No arch, no arch" as motorists passed by. A large replica of the planned arch, marked with a red X, stood at the center of the demonstration.

Among the speakers was Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a veteran and former Black Hawk helicopter pilot who lost both legs after her helicopter was shot down in Iraq. Speaking to the crowd, Duckworth accused Trump of using the military to justify what she called a monument to himself.

Thursday's protest came days after Trump said the 250-foot (76-meter) arch planned near Arlington National Cemetery would also serve as a military facility, housing drones, snipers and ammunition. Trump said the changes were made at the military's request and framed the project as a national security asset. The project, modeled is modeled on Paris' Arc de Triomphe.

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Transcript
00:04Some friends and I will be co-leading a mock sit-in.
00:14No arch! No arch! No arch! No arch!
00:23Lock him up!
00:35There will be an art build. You see all this fabulous art. It doesn't come from nowhere.
00:40It's from the Kennedy Center.
00:41That was our friend. You know that's Snow King's board.
00:46We have a permit to gather.
00:48We have a permit to gather.
00:50We have a permit to gather.
01:11As late as 1983 when I entered the Army, we were still discouraged from wearing our work uniforms, BDUs at
01:17the time, in public.
01:18Eventually all that changed as John described earlier.
01:23He may not have been brave enough to serve himself.
01:26He may have come up with excuses and lies.
01:30Not one, not two, not three, not four, but five times he avoided serving in Vietnam.
01:38This cemetery, these haunted grounds are full of our heroes who did show up and did serve.
01:44My father lays at rest in the cemetery.
01:47One day I will lay at rest in this cemetery.
01:51As will my husband.
01:52How dare! How dare this coward erect a monument to his own vanity, his own ego, covered in the same
02:01fake gold that he's plastered all over the Oval Office and his potential Marie Antoinette Ballroom.
02:08We are not going to let him get away with it.
02:13And now he's using our military as a flimsy excuse, our national security as a flimsy excuse for this vanity
02:21project.
02:25Those are all of our speakers. I just want to thank everyone for their bravery.
02:28In support of our friends at the Kennedy Center that's still being worked out.
03:12You

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