President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to forcibly put down any protests that spoil the military parade he has ordered up for his birthday on Saturday to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army’s founding during the American Revolutionary War.
Speaking in the Oval Office following an impromptu event to discuss forest management ahead of the upcoming summer wildfire season, Trump was riffing on what he described as violent excesses by protesters who’ve been demonstrating against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles when he was asked about the possibility of protests against the June 14 parade.
The president said it would be an “amazing day” and cited the “tanks … planes … all sorts of things” that will be on display during the spectacle, which is ostensibly meant to mark the Army’s semiquincentennial. He also compared the parade, which breaks from the American tradition that largely eschews militaristic or jingoistic displays of the sort routinely seen in authoritarian countries, to European celebrations of the end of the Second World War.
“We won the war, and we’re the only country that didn’t celebrate it, and we’re going to be celebrating big on Saturday. We’re going to have a lot of and if there’s any protest that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force,” he said.
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