Top officials from Donald Trump’s administration had previously denied knowing details about the president’s plans to turn a 250-foot “triumphal” arch in the heart of Washington, D.C. into a “top-grade military complex.”

But top Cabinet secretaries and Department of Justice officials are now arguing that the arch must be built to fend off drones and other “national security” threats to the nation’s capital.

In Wednesday court filings , Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin outlined plans for a militarized monument that can deploy snipers and counter drones and other “continuously evolving” threats.

“The Arch is a generational national defense opportunity to mitigate these evolving threats,” Hegseth wrote to the court. “It will be utilized as a dual-purpose structure: a major national monument that also incorporates military utility to support Homeland defense.”

The monument will also house “counter sniper personnel,” he said.…