Trump's monumental reimagining of Washington, D.C.
President Trump has triggered a firestorm of lawsuits over his plans to remake our nation's capital, as opponents fight to preserve it.
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.
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.]