AGORA

Agora debate ·

Trump officials say work will start on triumphal arch within two weeks

The question

Do you support building Trump’s 250-foot triumphal arch?

Yes 42%No 58%

77 players picked a side before playing.

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The best arguments

Written by Agora players and ranked by Agora's AI reasoning score. Shown without names.

  • Congress is constitutionally responsible for managing the budget of the country. This arch wasn’t in the budget. That needs to be approved by them first. The executive branch should have some discretionary authority, but not over projects that will cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars. And claiming Congress approved this 125 years ago is just intellectually irresponsible and blatantly inapplicable.

    A player · strong argument

  • Faster “approval” is actually bypassing true approval in this case. We are going to wait until congress, the committees, and the park service approve, even if it means making changes. It’s better to do it right and have everyone in support than to do it quickly.

    A player · strong argument

  • While the arch would be a magnificent landmark, if it is built right, rushing construction shows that this is more of an egotistical project than one done for the love of country. It is more important to show, first, respect for the country and its citizens by taking the correct channels, and two, making sure the opinions of experts and the American people are heard, such that a majority of people approve and can enjoy this monument.

    A player · decent argument

  • It is long overdue to have a significant monument built. It will be a one time expense and may increase tourism from foreign countries which brings their money in helping to stimulate our own economy.

    A player · decent argument

  • If we were to make the arch grander without the proper approval, we’d end up with another ballroom situation with excavated land, and still have to do a process after. Now congress is mad and we don’t have the memorial. While following the frameworks in place, as they are in place for a reason, it will allow us to build it for cheaper and make it larger. As many issues don’t cost as much as we think they do initially. DC is pretty liberal in its policies on wages and such, but we can import at

    A player · decent argument

  • I think it’s cool. A cool triumphal arch is a nice proposition. France has the Arc de Triomphe, Russia has the Triumphal Arch, so yeah why not have a similar sculpture in America too in order to memorialize our victories.

    A player · decent argument

In this game

  1. Which photo of the proposed arch is real?
  2. Only 12% of Americans support Trump’s plan to build the arch.
  3. Who said what?
  4. Immersive Command Mode
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