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‘People Can’t Afford Rent,' Critics Say as White House Boasts of Trump’s Plan for Gold-Covered Arch
"While Americans worry about skyrocketing costs and another endless war, President Trump is focused on a taxpayer-funded vanity project," said Rep. Don Beyer.
Apr 10, 2026
On the same day that the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that inflation spiked at its fastest monthly rate in four years, the Trump administration unveiled renderings of President Donald Trump's proposed gold-covered 250-foot-tall arch to be built at Memorial Circle in Washington, DC.
The renderings, which were produced by architecture firm Harrison Design and posted on social media by the White House's rapid response account, show a gigantic arch that would be flanked on its corners by four gold lions and topped by a 60-foot-tall gold statue of what appears to be an angel.
🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/zcH5TtaOu7
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 10, 2026
According to a Friday report in The Washington Post, some preservationists have expressed concerns that the arch, which would be more than twice the height of the Lincoln Monument, would disproportionately tower over the DC skyline, and would block views of Arlington National Cemetery.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) slammed the president for pushing construction of a gaudy gold-covered arch at a time when Americans are struggling due to the cost-of-living crisis worsened by his war in Iran.
"While Americans worry about skyrocketing costs and another endless war," he wrote in a social media post, "President Trump is focused on a taxpayer-funded vanity project that would choke traffic, block our skyline, and tower over sacred ground where those who served our nation are buried, including my own parents and sister."
Beyer added that the arch is "about Donald Trump's ego," and vowed, "we're going to stop it."
Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) responded to the renderings by reminding the White House that "Americans can't afford groceries."
Progressive activist Nina Turner had a similar reaction to Clark, posting that "people can’t afford rent" in response to the renderings.
Podcaster Brian Taylor Cohen contrasted the renderings of the arch with a statement Trump made earlier this month when he said "it’s not possible" for the federal government "to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things," because it needs to fund wars instead.
University of Missouri English professor Karen Piper also remarked on the opportunity cost of building the arch, along with other assorted Trump projects.
"This is why they're going to take away your Social Security, saying we can't afford it," she wrote. "Ballrooms, arches, and Don Jr. draining the Treasury."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has been named as a contender for the Democratic Party's 2028 presidential nomination, responded to the arch renderings by accusing Trump of "doing everything he can to wreck this country—this time with our nation's capital."
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) took issue with the decision to inscribe the phrase "one nation under God" at the top of the arch.
"That phrase came from Cold War propaganda, not our Founders," observed Huffman. "Trump stamping it on his vanity arch tells you everything about what this project is: a Christian nationalist monument, paid for with your tax dollars."
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U-Turn by Establishment as Corporate Dem Guru Carville Pushes 'Platform of Pure Economic Rage'
"It really is starting to feel like economic populists have won the debate."
Nov 24, 2025
James Carville, a one-time political strategist for former President Bill Clinton who has long sparred with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, turned some heads on Monday when he appeared to embrace a more populist economic vision.
Writing in the New York Times, Carville argued that the American people "are pissed" by the state of the US economy, and that Democrats must now "run on the most populist economic platform since the Great Depression."
"It is time for Democrats to embrace a sweeping, aggressive, unvarnished, unapologetic, and altogether unmistakable platform of pure economic rage," Carville added. "This is our only way out of the abyss."
While Carville then took a shot at the "era of performative woke politics from 2020 to 2024," which he said "left a lasting stain on our brand, particularly with rural voters and male voters," he said that Republicans' total failure to address the affordability crisis has given Democrats a second chance to win them back with bold economic populism.
"In the richest country in the history of our planet, we should not fear raising the minimum wage to $20 an hour, which had a 74% approval rating in 2023," he said. "We should not fear an America with free public college tuition, which 63% of US adults favored in a 2021 poll. When 62% of Americans say their electricity or gas bills have increased in the past year and 80% feel powerless to control their utility costs, we should not fear the idea of expanding rural broadband as a public utility. Or when 70% of Americans say raising children is too expensive, we should not fear making universal childcare a public good."
Taken together, the longtime centrist Democratic strategist declared that "the era of half-baked political policy is over."
Progressives who have long advocated for more economic populism cautiously welcomed Carville's new approach, although they expressed skepticism that the Democratic Party was really ready to go in this direction.
"The Democratic Party has to decide if they will let folks build that table," wrote former Democratic Ohio state Sen. Nina Turned on X. "For too long, the party has done everything to hurt the populist movement."
David Sirota, founder of The Lever and one-time senior adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign, noted with amusement that Carville's recommendations to Democrats had changed dramatically over the last few months.
Specifically, Sirota pointed to a editorial Carville wrote for the Times back in February where he recommended that the party "roll over and play dead," while waiting for President Donald Trump and the GOP to inevitably implode from self-inflicted errors.
"He's gone from demanding Dems play dead to demanding Dems be Bernie Sanders," Sirota observed. "A good reminder that thumb-in-the-wind politicos with no principles will change their tune when others do the hard work of shifting the political environment."
Gun violence prevention activist David Hogg, on the other hand, took the Carville op-ed as a hopeful sign that "times are changing."
Climate advocate and attorney Aaron Regunberg also saw signs that Carville's op-ed marked a turning point in Democratic Party conventional wisdom.
"It really is starting to feel like economic populists have won the debate," he argued. "Our haters have become our waiters—time for us to all build a table of success for the Democratic Party."
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'This Isn't Justice... This Is Merely Accountability': Ex-Cop Found Guilty of Murdering Sonya Massey
"Accountability has begun, and we now hope the court will impose a meaningful sentence that reflects the severity of these crimes and the life that was lost," said attorneys for Massey's family.
Oct 29, 2025
A southern Illinois jury on Wednesday found Sean Grayson, a white ex-cop, guilty of second-degree murder for fatally shooting Sonya Massey in her Springfield home last year after the unarmed Black woman called 911 to report a suspected prowler.
"Grayson had been charged with three counts of first-degree murder," WBEZ noted. "The jury's decision to convict on a single lesser count of second-degree murder averted a potential lifetime sentence in prison that first-degree murder charges carried in some instances."
The former Sangamon County sheriff's deputy, who now faces up to 20 years behind bars, is set to be sentenced in January. Reactions to the verdict were mixed, with some saying that the jury didn't go far enough.
"Sonya Massey called for help and was killed for it. This isn't justice. Justice is Sonya Massey still being alive. This is merely accountability," said Nina Turner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy. "Thinking about her family and loved ones today."
WBEZ reported that "Sonya Massey's mother, Donna Massey, had tears streaming down her face as the verdict was announced. Sonya Massey's teenaged daughter, Summer, broke down in sobs as she and her family exited the courtroom, screaming that Grayson should have been convicted of first-degree murder."
Massey's father, James Wilburn, described the outcome as a "miscarriage of justice," according to the Associated Press. Springfield civil rights activist Teresa Haley told reporters outside the courthouse: "She called for help and she was murdered in her own home... Second-degree murder—that is not right. That is not justice for anybody's family."
Nationally renowned attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, who represented Massey's family—which secured a $10 million settlement for her wrongful death earlier this year—said in a Wednesday statement that "while we believe Grayson's actions deserved a first-degree conviction, today's verdict is still a measure of justice for Sonya Massey."
"Accountability has begun, and we now hope the court will impose a meaningful sentence that reflects the severity of these crimes and the life that was lost," the lawyers said. "We will continue to fight for Sonya’s family and for reforms that protect everyone from unlawful use of force."
"The family extends deep gratitude to Sangamon County State's Attorney John C. Milhiser and his entire office," the pair added. "They handled the case with professionalism, transparency, and compassion. Prosecuting a police officer is never easy but this team did it with courage and integrity."
After Grayson murdered Massey on July 6, 2024, various reports exposed his history of misconduct. Wednesday's verdict came two months after Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation named for Massey that requires police agencies to comprehensively review an applicant's employment history before making a job offer.
"When Sonya Massey feared for her safety, she did what anyone would do—she called law enforcement for help. Communities should be able to trust that when they call the police to their home, the responding officer will be well-trained and without a history of bias or misconduct," Pritzker said at the time. "Today, I sign Sonya Massey's Bill to help prevent these tragedies, to better equip law enforcement to keep our communities safe, and to continue working to build a justice system that protects all of our citizens."
Also welcoming the new law, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said in August that "because of the strength that exists in Sonya Massey's family and the resilience that lives in the community she left behind, a bunch of individual people took their pain and made a difference. This is what happens when we meet each other with humanity."
In response to the verdict, Stratton declared: "Say her name: Sonya Massey. Sonya Massey's life mattered, and she should be alive today. Though nothing we ever say or do will bring Sonya back, today's verdict is one step closer on the long path towards justice."
"Her final moments were a devastating example of how a system meant to protect and serve can fail, but the accountability we saw today is a reminder to keep hope alive for a world where tragedies like Sonya's no longer occur," said Stratton, one of several Democrats running to replace retiring US Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
"I offer my love and continuing prayers to her mother Donna, and Sonya's entire family as they relive the trauma of her passing yet remain determined to enact change," she added. "May we speak her name and remember her for the fullness of her life: Sonya Massey will not be forgotten."
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