White House Slammed for Tone-Deaf Post About 'Triumphal Arch' Following Midterm Bloodbath
A surprising number of conservatives lashed out at the Trump administration on Friday after the White House published a post to social media that many of them deemed tone-deaf.
Early Friday morning, the White House posted a picture to the social media platform X of its proposed Military Triumphal Arch.
The Military Triumphal Arch is a proposed 250-foot-tall monument and ceremonial gateway that the administration plans to install at Memorial Circle, at the Virginia end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, near the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.
Proposed by President Donald Trump, the monument is intended to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The president and other administration officials have described it as a grand national gateway and tribute to American history and veterans.
A Monument to the American Spirit.
The Military Triumphal Arch will honor the heroes who gave everything for our nation – a monumental tribute to America’s first 250 years & a symbol of the next 250.
A legacy of freedom. A future without limits.
📲 https://t.co/vkquwA5qGp https://t.co/ucUPdw3YLL
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 6, 2026
The problem, the administration’s conservative critics proclaimed, is that this isn’t the right time to be focusing on such grand displays, especially in light of the devastating defeat that Republicans just suffered in the midterm elections.
“Americans are in shambles economically, angry over the Iran War, and furious over White House corruption,” Corey Walker, a correspondent for The Algemeiner, opined in an X post.
“And yet, the administration is still flaunting a gaudy arch that no one asked for,” he added.
Fox News legal analyst Phil Holloway also lashed out, writing in a social media post that the Trump administration needs to “read the room please.”
Jamie Dupree, a journalist and reporter who previously provided news coverage for Fox News host Sean Hannity, seemed to mock President Donald Trump’s “focus in this election week” by highlighting the president’s schedule.
Dupree wrote that while the rest of the country was focused on the midterm elections and their aftermath, the president was focused on the Reflecting Pool, his “new DC golf course,” the new White House ballroom, and, of course, the proposed Military Triumphal Arch.
Trump’s focus in this election week:
Monday: Reflecting Pool and new DC golf course
Wednesday: White House Ballroom Tour
Thursday: No changes allowed to Oval Office
Friday: DC Triumphal Arch— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) November 6, 2026
Former New York City Police Department officer John Cardillo, who used to appear on Fox News, similarly mocked the administration.
“They’ve apparently gotten the message and are now focusing on the really important stuff that America cares about,” he wrote sarcastically on X.
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Posting sarcastically, John Daniel Davidson, a senior editor at The Federalist, tied the Iran War to the monument.
“Usually you build a ‘military triumph arch’ after you’ve won a war, not lost one,” he wrote in an X post.
Meanwhile, congressional Democrats responded to the White House’s social media post by vowing that the monument would never be built.
We’re never letting Trump’s Arch see the light of day. No more taxpayer dollars toward building vanity projects.
We’re rebuilding America.
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) November 6, 2026
Democrats may be right.
Earlier in the week, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a temporary restraining order pausing work on the monument for 14 days.
“In a 33-page ruling, Chutkan wrote that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing the federal government did not follow required legal processes before moving to build the 250-foot triumphal arch,” CBS News reported.
“She also said Virginia and D.C. likely have standing to sue, pointing to ‘tangible economic harms’ caused by traffic problems at the construction site,” the report from CBS News continued.
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