Architecture always sends a message. So what does President Trump’s desire for a Triumphal Arch say about his authoritarian aspirations? About his regard for process, precedent, and the rule of law?

First, we should look to the inspirations for the “Arc de Trump.” The form originated with Ancient Roman arches such as the Arch of Titus which served as “billboards” for military victories and glorified the absolute power of the emperors who erected them. Similarly, Napoleon’s famous Arc de Triomphe in Paris marks his army’s victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, a monument to imperialistic ambition. It’s no coincidence that Trump desires his own architectural echo of those past monuments to “might makes right.”

As if destroying the East Wing of the White House, commissioning a gilded statue of himself, and slapping his name on the Kennedy Center weren’t bad enough, Trump is intent on making his mark–bigly–on one of the most historically significant parts of Washington: Memorial Circle in Lady Bird Johnson Park, Columbia Island. But as with the ballroom/bunker where the East Wing once stood, this latest ill-conceived project comes at a cost to both taxpayers and the integrity of the Capital’s historic character.

Trump lied when he said initially that the project would be privately funded. Following a familiar pattern from his other self-aggrandizing, destroy-and-replace projects (e.g., the ballroom), he is now admitting that the arch will be partially taxpayer funded, to the tune of $15 million. We didn’t ask for it, but we’re being asked to pay for it.

The cost to the Capital’s integrity: the monument will disrupt the strategic sightline from the Lincoln Memorial, across Arlington Memorial Bridge, through the Memorial Avenue Corridor Cultural Landscape to Arlington House. Building this ridiculously oversized arch at the proposed site will all but obliterate the integrity of setting and association that gives those landmarks their profound significance: the symbolism of burying Union dead on the Confederate general’s former property and the sight line to the Lincoln Memorial as a symbol of reunification following the Civil War.

The project’s detrimental impact goes beyond its harm to the historic sightline. Addition of the arch would also disrupt Arlington’s daily funeral services and the solemn character of the National Cemetery’s landscape and function–especially given that Trump has called veterans “suckers and losers.” The tree loss and disruption to the landscape of Lady Bird Johnson Park represents an additional slap in the face to the historic and cultural significance of the proposed site.

If nothing else, this sort of monument to a living President’s ego (Trump has confirmed that, saying to reporters that the arch is for “me”) is also without precedent. For that matter, Trump’s administration continues to flaunt various federal approval processes, taking the reckless stance of “just build it and then it will be too late.”

Before it’s too late, the American people should demand alternatives to the proposed arch–not just mitigation of the design. The approval process requires exploration of alternatives that genuinely avoid or minimize adverse effects before accepting them. Legitimate “no-build” alternatives and site options must be considered before bulldozers roll in.

Think about how $15 million of your tax dollars might be better spent. Then contact your representatives to voice your opposition to Trump’s latest taxpayer-funded vanity project before this architectural fiasco is thrust upon us.

Eric Jackson-Forsberg is a Jamestown resident.