Trump says his domestic policy chief's priority is to build DC triumphal arch amid affordability crisis

US President Donald Trump made many heads turn after he said on Sunday that his domestic policy chief’s main priority is building a triumphal arch for Washington DC . The remarks came amid growing criticism over the Trump administration’s inability to address the worsening affordability crisis.

While speaking at a holiday party in the White House, the American leader hailed Vance Haley, his former speechwriter and a longtime aide to Newt Gingrich , who now leads the White House Domestic Policy Council.

“Vince is unbelievable on policy,” Trump said. “And we have a policy thing that’s going to be unbelievably happening." “I put Vince in charge of the triumphal arc,” Trump said, using the French word for arch. “We’re building an arc, like the Arc de Triomphe,” the president added, mixing English and French, in remarks shared on social media by the White House.

“We’re building it by the Arlington Bridge, the Arlington cemetery, opposite the Lincoln Memorial . You could say Jefferson, Washington, everything, ‘cause they’re all right there,” Trump continued, referring to the prominent monuments in the nation’s capital dedicated to three of his predecessors.

‘It will be like the one in Paris’: Trump

The American leader went on to gush about the structure instead of addressing the pertinent issues currently facing American society. “And it’s something that is so special. It will be like the one in Paris,” Trump said, referring to the Arc de Triomphe, constructed between 1806 and 1836 at the western end of the Champs-Élysées. The structure in France honours those who died fighting for the country during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.

“But to be honest with you,” Trump said, the new arch that Haley will be in charge of constructing will be much better than the one Napoleon Bonaparte ordered up. “It blows it away. Blows it away in every way," he remarked.

In his speech, Trump mentioned that his domestic policy chief was stunned by a model of the triumphal arch the first time he saw it. “Vince came in one day, and his eyes were teeming,” the president said, apparently reaching for the word “beaming” in his memory and not finding it. I mean, he couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. He saw it, and he wanted to do that,” he said.

“That’s your primary thing,” the president said to Haley. “There is nothing that can compete with that.” Many condemned Trump’s remarks since they came at a time when the United States is struggling with increased prices due to the arbitrary tariffs imposed by Trump himself.

Not only this, but health insurance premiums are set to double or triple in the coming weeks. Hence, many might disagree with the president’s claim that the construction of an Arc de Triomphe knockoff should be the main focus of his chief domestic policy adviser.