Military equipment heading to DC ahead of Trump’s birthday parade
Combat tanks, combat vehicles and infantry airlines have departed Texas for DC for President Trump’s military parade.
- The parade reflects the president’s vision of his role and the power of the country.
- Trump’s defeat in 2020 made him a happy beneficiary of the calendar.
- Some predict moving moments of patriotism. Others see the astonishing echoes of authoritarianism.
Washington – Donald Trump loves parades.
Also, the airplanes in the airplanes, gold decorations in oval offices, admiration of huge gatherings, the company of kings (British, Saudi Arabia), and the general aura surrounding power, wealth, royalty.
The president’s resolve to stage a procession of American troops and its military hardware reflects his role and the vision of the nation’s vision of the 28 Abrams tanks thunder the Constitutional Way of the country’s capital, with 50 military helicopters smacking overhead, reflecting his role and the nation he leads.
Asserting large and sometimes unprecedented power for the presidency, he is willing to lead the US of Go It Aron, ready to stretch his muscles in the world.
Trump’s last major event, Trump’s inauguration, on January 20th, was a demonstration of the power of tradition and sharing. The next president was standing on the stairs of the Capitol.
Five months later, the June 14th celebration marked the 250th anniversary of the US military’s founding, with Trump in front and center.
The parade also happens to be held on his 79th birthday.
Trump is a happy beneficiary of the calendar. He is poised to become president not only during the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding, but also during the 2026 FIFA World Cup (co-hosted by Canada and Mexico) and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
The confluence of events is not a coincidence, he suggests. “I have it all,” he boasted at an anniversary event at Arlington Cemetery. “The way things work is amazing. God did it.”
Trump’s luck in 2020 defeat
Whether or not it was a case of divine intervention, Trump’s election defeat in 2020, benefiting from hindsight, proved to be a coincidence for him.
The four-year Interregnum not only placed him in the position to host during historic and famous celebrations, but also gave him a democratic predecessor as a boy who whipped him when things went wrong. It also provided the opportunity for him to solidify Republican control and supporters to create ambitious blueprints like Project 2025 to tap when he lands in the second term.
When I saw Parisian champion Elises roll on Bastille Day 2017, he opened the door to a heart-warming parade.
However, during Trump’s first term, the pentagon resisted. Secretary of Defense Jim Matisse, a retired four-star Marine general, opposed the idea as a politicization of the military. In 2020, despite concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, when Trump pushed again, Mattis’ successor Mark Esper arranged a series of war planes to fly the East Coast in the “Air Parade.”
Currently, Trump’s loyalist and former Fox News host Pete Hegses leads the Department of Defense. The Army’s plans for the festival’s modest birthday celebrations, fun runs and commemorative stamps have been dramatically expanded to include what the White House calls a big, beautiful parade.
The sights of over 100 combat vehicles on the ground and dozens of vintage and modern fighter jets in the air are phenomenal. In addition to the unit, 34 horses, two mules, a dog named Dock Holiday, and some vehicles began at the Pentagon in Virginia, crossed the Arlington Memorial Bridge and then headed for a parade route along the National Mall where they joined the tank.
Trump is viewed from the review stand just south of the White House.
The Army Golden Knight paratoopers will enter a parachute, land on the solar eclipse, and present Trump with the American flag. The president then governs the enlistment and re-enlistment of 250 soldiers.
There are fireworks.
Is it exciting or is it vigilant?
Of course, the United States has performed military parades previously.
At the end of the Civil War, in the bloodiest conflict in American history, the magnificent review of the army lasted two days, featuring 145,000 soldiers from the victorious Union forces who marched through Washington and sometimes invaded songs. President Andrew Johnson, who was sworn in after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln a month ago, was the main side.
During the Cold War, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a five-star general and hero of World War II, had troops, tanks and war planes in his first parade. His successor, John F. Kennedy, included the army in his first parade in 1961. The last major military parade in the capital was in 1991, marking the end of the first Gulf War, when George H.W. Bush was president.
However, there is not much precedent in the US for such a large military parade in peacetime.
Like many things Trump is involved, the response clashes between those who predict the moving moments of patriotism and those who view it as an astounding echo of authoritarianism. Ritualized displays of armed and military forces are more commonplace in places such as Russia, China, and North Korea.
In the United States, liberal and democratic groups declared the “king” day of protest on June 14th.
Trump is shy about demanding attention and claiming credit for the president’s record, and is in the top ranks of the 45 men who have done their job.
In a union speech in March, he said, “I believe many have just recorded the first month of the president.” Last month, on the facade of the farm sector facing the mall, a giant flag on Trump’s face was covered between pillars along with one of the Lincolns.
Incidentally, it’s a building where thousands of troops marching in parades bivouacs, slept in beds, bring their own sleeping bags. Agriculture employees are instructed to work from home for the first three weeks of the month, clearing their way.
$45 million? “Peanuts,” Trump says
Parade price tag?
The Army estimates the costs to between $30 million and $45 million, along with its promise to help the DC government deal with the aftermath. To protect the asphalt, giant steel plates are embedded at several intersections, but at 140,000 pounds each, Abrams’ tanks are expected to leave an impression. This could add an estimated $16 million.
“Peanuts” and Trump said the cost of NBC’s “Meet the Press” was “compared to the value of doing it” last month.
