Kennedys file lawsuit to block Trump’s arch over impact on family’s graves
Members of the Kennedy family have filed a lawsuit to block the construction of a 250ft memorial arch proposed by the Trump administration at Arlington National Cemetery. The family argues the structure would negatively impact the solemnity of the gravesites of Robert F. and Edward M. Kennedy.
Why it matters
The dispute highlights ongoing tensions between the Kennedy family and the current administration, while raising questions about the use of national monuments for political messaging.
Nine members of the Kennedy family asked a U.S. judge earlier this week to block President Donald Trump’s plans to build a 250ft tall memorial arch, arguing that the structure would cast a shadow over their relatives’ burial site at Arlington National Cemetery.
The arch, the relatives argued, would “fundamentally alter the experience of visiting the gravesites,” and suggested that they deserve to remain “unimpeded as a solemn and sacred memorial to the legacy of the Kennedy family.”
They filed a motion to intervene in two existing lawsuits seeking to block construction of the arch, and after U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan prohibited the Trump administration from breaking ground on the structure for 14 days. Following the judge’s ruling, the White House launched a new website reframing the arch as a memorial to U.S. military history.
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