High Cost of Military Parade Leads to Criticism of Trump

WASHINGTON — Cost estimates are rising along with congressional outrage over President Donald Trump’s planned military parade June 14 through the streets of Washington, D.C.

The latest Defense Department estimate shows it would cost as much as $45 million.

A separate Defense Department estimate says damage to the streets from rolling tanks and other heavy equipment over them could add $16 million.

In addition to 6,700 soldiers in the parade, there will be 28 M1 Abrams tanks. Each of them weighs 70 tons.

There also will be 28 Stryker armored personnel carriers and more than 100 other military vehicles.

Among government officials expressing concern is Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser. She said in April while the Trump administration was firming up plans for the parade that tanks rolling through the city’s streets “would not be good.”

“If military tanks were used, they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads,” she said.

Trump says the parade is important as a point of national pride to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. The parade route will stretch nearly four miles, from the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, to the White House.

Trump said in a recent “Meet the Press” interview that the cost of the parade would be “peanuts compared to the value of doing it.”

He appears to draw inspiration from a military parade he witnessed on Bastille Day in France in 2017.

He started making inquiries about a similar parade in Washington shortly after his return from France during his first term as president. He gave up on the plan originally because of the high cost estimates.

Now he seems to think a national celebration of the U.S. military is more important.

“We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have the greatest submarines in the world. We have the greatest army tanks in the world,” Trump said on Meet the Press. “We have the greatest weapons in the world. And we’re going to celebrate it.”

June 14 is also Trump’s 79th birthday and Flag Day.

Pentagon officials previously advised against the parade to avoid the risk of entangling the military in partisan politics.

Some members of Congress call the parade foolishness at a time Trump claims to be trying to reduce wasteful government spending.

“The egotist-in-chief wants taxpayers to foot the bill for a military parade on his birthday,” said Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., in a statement.

Even some of Trump’s fellow Republicans are expressing misgivings.

“America is the most powerful country in all of human history … and we don’t need to show it off,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “We’re not North Korea. We’re not Russia, we’re not China and I don’t wanna be.”

After the parade passes in front of a viewing stand for Trump and his guests near the White House, a big celebration and fireworks display is planned for the nearby National Capital Mall. 

Before the parade, the troops will be housed in two governmental buildings, where they will sleep on cots or in their sleeping bags.

The parade is unlikely to go off completely with the celebratory emphasis the president seeks. 

Protests are scheduled in Washington and nationwide by activists. One of the biggest groups is called Indivisible. They call their planned demonstrations the “No Kings Nationwide Day of Defiance.”

They cast doubt in a statement on their website over whether the parade was really intended to show support for the U.S. military.

“Trump isn’t honoring that legacy,” the Indivisible statement said. “He’s hijacking it to celebrate himself.”

It added, “This country doesn’t belong to a king — and we’re not letting him throw himself a parade funded by tens of millions of our taxpayer dollars while stealing from us and stripping away our rights, our freedoms and the programs our families rely on.”

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