FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson shake hands during a House Republican members conference meeting in Trump National Doral resort, in Miami, Florida, U.S. January 27, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
President Donald Trump is trying to get the military parade his “generals” blocked him from having during his first term, reportedly planning to spend millions of taxpayer money to honor himself on his 79th birthday in June.
In 2018, “Trump angrily and reluctantly canceled his plans after military leaders said it would cost $92 million and after District officials complained that heavy military equipment—tanks and planes included—would tear up the roadways and cost $21 million just for parade public safety,” Washington City Paper reports. “Now, second-term Trump apparently won’t be denied.”
Citing a D.C. source, the paper reports that “Trump has commandeered Saturday, June 14—the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and, as it happens, Trump’s 79th birthday—for his military parade. It would stretch almost four miles from the Pentagon in Arlington to the White House, according to the source, who stressed that local officials are just learning of it.”
Critics are blasting the Commander-in-Chief’s efforts, with some noting that military parades are what fascist and authoritarian countries do, and others pointing out how Trump’s massive cuts to the federal workforce, immigration policies, and new tariffs have decimated American families.
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“So what if you go broke or your kid dies of measles?” asked NYU professor, historian, and scholar of fascism and authoritarian leaders Ruth Ben-Ghiat. Trump “gets to golf and have his military parade.”
“Trump wanted this military parade in DC so much in his first term — even after the vice chair of the Joint Chiefs bluntly told him in the Oval Office ‘it’s what dictators do,’ per our reporting,” noted The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser.
“When President Trump returned from the Bastille Day military parade in France in July 2017, he was enamored of the display, calling it ‘one of the most beautiful parades I have ever seen.'” The Washington Post had reported in 2019. “Months later, Trump made a decision: He wanted his own parade. Ideally, a bigger and better show than the one he had watched in Paris. ‘We’re going to have to try and top it,’ he said.”
The Daily Beast adds that Trump “did get a scaled-down version in 2019 with his ‘Salute to America’ event, featuring tanks and military flyovers. That cost $13 million, more than double the usual July 4th celebration.”
Political strategist Chris D. Jackson noted that Trump “craves strongman vibes. If Obama or Biden tried this, impeachment would be instant. It’s pathetic—and we’re footing the bill.”
“We’re going to cap off torching $12 trillion by hosting a big military parade,” wrote Democratic strategist Max Burns, appearing to refer to the approximate amount the stock markets have lost since Trump was inaugurated.