Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he would be placing a sniper’s nest in the front of Arlington National Cemetery.
In any other moment, the act would have been truly confusing. Presidents are not generally known for advertising the whereabouts of specific U.S. military fortifications, even those placed in such scenic and somber locations. But Trump’s announcement followed a pattern: His planned fortification of this hallowed ground comes as the president has leaned into national security and his role as commander-in-chief to justify his physical transformation of the nation’s capital and the White House.
