A known fan of pomp and circumstance, President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to hold a grand military parade through Washington, D.C. on his behalf later this year.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that during a January 18 meeting in the Pentagon's "tank" room (typically reserved for top-secret military discussions with the Joint Chiefs of Staff) the president's previously "abstract desire" for a military parade appeared to become a directive.
"The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,” a military official with knowledge of the meeting told the Post. “This is being worked at the highest levels of the military."
In 2017, Trump attended a military parade during a September visit to France to meet with new French President Emmanuel Macron. The event so impressed him that he asked White House chief of staff John Kelly, a retired Marine general, if they could plan a similar parade for the 4th of July the following year.