Bill Clinton Rips Apart Trump Over Prez's Plans for a Triumphal Arch and His Focus on Construction Projects — 'It's Hard to Make Up'
Bill Clinton weighed in on Donald Trump's latest construction plan.
Sept. 22 2026, Published 7:20 p.m. ET
Bill Clinton opened the Clinton Global Initiative on Tuesday, September 22, by mocking President Trump's plan to turn a proposed Washington arch into a military site for drones, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The former president said a fight over putting Trump's name on the Kennedy Center is the wrong argument at the wrong time.
Bill Clinton Jokes About Arch Plan
Clinton spoke at the Clinton Global Initiative on Tuesday, September 22, and mocked the president.
Clinton told the New York audience that the meeting had to begin with a clear look at the moment.
"I think it's important to take a few minutes to assess where we are now and the environment in which we are meeting," he said.
"I suppose I could take my entire allotted time to discuss the self-evident wisdom of building an Arc de Triomphe in Washington to hold all our drones. Some of this stuff – it's hard to make up."
'A top-grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch'
Donald Trump has his sights set on another construction project.
Trump previously wrote on Truth Social that "at the strong request of the United States Military, and for National Security purposes," he had agreed to convert "the magnificent Triumphal Arch, planned since the Civil War Era many years ago, at the Receptive Circle adjoining the Arlington Memorial Bridge, into a top-grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch."
Clinton then turned to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Last week, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper blocked the Trump-selected board from adding the president's name to the institution and from renaming the campus after him.
The judge said memorials of that kind require approval from Congress.
Bill Clinton Mentions JFK Center
Clinton doesn't appear to be a fan of Trump's actions with the Kennedy Center.
Clinton called the dispute a distraction.
"I personally think that the way we've argued about what's going on at the Kennedy Center and all that kind of stuff — I think we've been majoring in the minors," the ex-politician noted.
"You really think 100 years from now anybody's going to care very much about whose name's on what building?" he asked. "Isn't it more important what happens in the building? And what happens outside the building?"
Bill Clinton Praises Diversity
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Clinton championed diversity as a positive for the U.S.
Clinton described the period as one of the rare points when decisions shape both personal history and the lives of people nearby. He also said he still believes diversity is a strength.
"I feel so strongly – as I did 30 years ago-plus when I ran for president as a virtual child – that diversity is a positive thing, not a negative one," the 80-year-old explained.
Cooperation, he said, works better than conflict.
The country could handle nearly every challenge it faces, he added, "if we didn't care as much about who got the credit, and we made sure that we took care of the least of these."
