The Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi
Oct 9, 2026 · 39 min · 17 segments
In recent months, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has used his office to improve housing conditions across the city, including filing lawsuits that force landlords to…
Tom SherwoodPanelist
Kojo NnamdiHost
Jenny Abamu
Before we get to District of Columbia business, Tom Sherwood, let's talk a little bit-
... about what's happening with the plans that President Trump has to build that well-known arch that he's been talking about, that apparently now will double as some kind of military facility.
Arlington County w- is Virginia County that's adjacent to the Potomac River and where this, and the, uh, area where this ma- uh, arch would go, 250 feet, the largest arch in the world, I believe.
I think Trump has backed off putting snipers [laughs] in, and drones and other stuff there, but he's still proceeding, proceeding with it.
The county's arguing that the Trump administration rushed federal process w- uh, that needed to be done to, to approve this arch.
The county also says it interferes with the roadway and the traffic around Memorial Circle, that it inf- interferes with the historic setting of that circle adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, and that overall it's a bad idea badly executed and should not go forward.
Now, the Arlington County suit is in addition to three veterans who have sued along the same r- lines, and those two suits are now before the courts.
Well, look, the, the giant arch raises a lot of serious concerns, as, uh, as Tom alluded to.
Um, it's also clear that the law doesn't permit the President, without congressional approval, to build an arch like this.
Uh, the lawsuit that's pending in the federal court in D.C., the court has made very clear that the administration is not to begin doing any sort of construction on a giant arch without giving notice, uh, so that we can make sure the laws are complied with.
I just would step back and say, this is not what Americans want their president focused on.
This is a vanity project at a time when we need government to be focusing on what people's needs are, their pocketbook issues, and not pursuing vanity issues.
... and I should have mentioned that, you know, Reagan, people who use Reagan National are concerned now.
There's been some preliminary approval that this won't interfere with the, the endless landing and taking off of planes.
However, the, the Federal Aviation Administration said, "Well, you think you better light it up really well so people can see it." And that alone, if they have to say that, should tell you it shouldn't go there.
Um, speaking of plans that people have that some other people may not approve of, vanity plans, I don't know if you'd call Mayor Bowser's plan for a massive spa along the Anacostia River a vanity plan.
Some people seem to think it is, and other people, they seem to say, "Whatever it is, it's not going anywhere," Tom Sherwood.
Before we get to District of Columbia business, Tom Sherwood, let's talk a little bit-
... about what's happening with the plans that President Trump has to build that well-known arch that he's been talking about, that apparently now will double as some kind of military facility.
Arlington County w- is Virginia County that's adjacent to the Potomac River and where this, and the, uh, area where this ma- uh, arch would go, 250 feet, the largest arch in the world, I believe.
I think Trump has backed off putting snipers [laughs] in, and drones and other stuff there, but he's still proceeding, proceeding with it.
The county's arguing that the Trump administration rushed federal process w- uh, that needed to be done to, to approve this arch.
The county also says it interferes with the roadway and the traffic around Memorial Circle, that it inf- interferes with the historic setting of that circle adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, and that overall it's a bad idea badly executed and should not go forward.
Now, the Arlington County suit is in addition to three veterans who have sued along the same r- lines, and those two suits are now before the courts.
Well, look, the, the giant arch raises a lot of serious concerns, as, uh, as Tom alluded to.
Um, it's also clear that the law doesn't permit the President, without congressional approval, to build an arch like this.
Uh, the lawsuit that's pending in the federal court in D.C., the court has made very clear that the administration is not to begin doing any sort of construction on a giant arch without giving notice, uh, so that we can make sure the laws are complied with.
I just would step back and say, this is not what Americans want their president focused on.
This is a vanity project at a time when we need government to be focusing on what people's needs are, their pocketbook issues, and not pursuing vanity issues.
... and I should have mentioned that, you know, Reagan, people who use Reagan National are concerned now.
There's been some preliminary approval that this won't interfere with the, the endless landing and taking off of planes.
However, the, the Federal Aviation Administration said, "Well, you think you better light it up really well so people can see it." And that alone, if they have to say that, should tell you it shouldn't go there.
Um, speaking of plans that people have that some other people may not approve of, vanity plans, I don't know if you'd call Mayor Bowser's plan for a massive spa along the Anacostia River a vanity plan.
Some people seem to think it is, and other people, they seem to say, "Whatever it is, it's not going anywhere," Tom Sherwood.
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