Plan now leaves Trump’s arch without its defenses

We are told that Donald Trump’s plan for snipers stationed between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery is apparently dead. The latest version of the plan for a giant arch in that location makes no mention of snipers or drones, according to the Washington Sun.

Thus is the lifecycle of a failed idea: It is announced, analyzed, debated, then, after a period of silence, a few words on the occasion of its passing.

I’d like to offer a few of those parting words.

But first allow me to establish my bona fides.

If you’re going to talk about the drone and sniper plan (may it rest in peace), it helps to know rotaries — traffic circles, to the uninitiated — since the arch would sit astride the island in the middle of a rotary at the Virginia end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge.

I learned to drive as a teenager on Cape Cod, but I got my advanced degree in road aggression from years of driving in and around Boston, where it was at the time a high art and a way of life. I could teach an advanced course in rotaries.

Despite that hard-won experience, I’ve never seen snipers stationed at a rotary. Yes, Massachusetts has stricter gun laws than a lot of places, but still. And it’s never occurred to me to wonder about it. A friend and I were once discussing our approaches to rotaries (yes, I know: counter-clockwise — rotary jokes are the best); snipers never came up.

And while I’ve never piloted a plane or directed one from a control tower, I’ve got to believe that launching drones into the flight path of commercial jets landing at Reagan National Airport could produce a hypertension hot zone, and, maybe, a dangerous situation.

I’ve driven by the site in question — or should we now say “in the cross hairs”? — countless times, in light traffic and in rush hour, and not once did I think to myself, “This would be a great place for an arch … and snipers. With drones shooting up to greet airliners on final approach.”

But what do I know?

Donald Trump told us that the military, which already has an office down the street, very much wanted this. So the Pentagon must be disappointed in this latest development, although it appears to be hiding its grief well. Asked for comment, the Department of Defense referred the Washington Sun to the White House, which did not respond.

But this isn’t really a story about the lifecycle of a failed idea — it’s about the coverage of that idea.

Trump announced on Sept. 20 the revision of his planned arch. His Truth Social post said the arch would “house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage.”

Headlines followed:

National Public Radio: Trump says his D.C. arch will serve as ‘military complex’ with snipers and drones

The following week, some doubt was cast on the plan.

The Washington Post: Officials cast doubt on Trump’s plan for drones, snipers at proposed arch

Then silence, then the news of the plan’s demise, or perhaps more accurately, its disappearance.

These stories are the routine, cradle-to-grave coverage of a failed proposal. Routine coverage does not provide a way to deviate from routine when someone proposes snipers and drones at a rotary. Routine coverage does not provide a way to say, uh, this is crazy, right? A reporter does not feel empowered to say to Donald Trump, you know this is crazy, right?

That conundrum has bedeviled journalists covering Donald Trump since the start of his political career. That conundrum — that normalizing — is what has had media critics wringing their hands for years. It’s the normalizing that signals to the public that, say, a plan to install snipers by Arlington National Cemetery is no different from a proposal to cut or hike cemetery spending.

This plan may be dead — or Donald Trump may revive it in reaction to stories of its demise. After all, failed plans are a Washington perennial; they can always grow back.

National Capital Planning Commission: New Monumental Arch