President Donald Trump is finally getting the military parade he has wanted since his first stint in the White House.
The Pentagon previously opposed the notion of having a parade because officials wanted to distance the military from politics.
On June 14, Trump’s 79th birthday and the Army’s 250th anniversary, 28 Abrams tanks, 28 armored personnel carriers, more than 100 other vehicles, 6,700 soldiers, 50 helicopters, a B-25 bomber from World War II, two mules, and a dog will hit the streets and the skies of the nation’s capital.
The estimated cost is $25 million to $45 million. The upper number may even rise, however, as the army has committed to fixing any city streets damaged by the parade. The cost of the cleanup work and police services is not yet included in the estimate, The New York Times noted.
The Pentagon’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 is $1.01 trillion, coming as the Trump administration is making severe cuts to public services, including education, health, and disaster aid. In addition, thousands of military veterans are slated to lose government jobs in agencies such as the Department of Veterans Affairs due to demanded cuts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
While Army spokesperson Steve Warren told The Times that $45 million is “a lot of money,” he added: “But I think that amount of money is dwarfed by 250 years of service and sacrifice by America’s Army.”
When the Army turned 200 in 1975, no parade was held amid the Vietnam War and Kent State shootings. Smaller commemorations were organized at Army bases around the U.S. However, the U.S. was set to celebrate its bicentennial the following year.
Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, told reporters last week that Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia, could be an ideal location for similar celebrations on a smaller scale, “where the Old Guard could march with some veterans,” referencing the Army’s oldest active duty infantry unit, the 3rd infantry regiment.
“But this is Trump,” Reed told the press at the Defense Writers Group, according to The Times. “It’s consistent with so much of what he’s doing.”
The parade will pass by Trump’s viewing platform on Constitution Avenue on the evening of Saturday, June 14, part of a big celebration on the National Mall. The marching troops will be housed in two government buildings, reportedly sleeping on military cots and bringing their own sleeping bags.
The Army has been planning elements of the celebration for more than two years. However, those plans were focused on festivals, a postal stamp, a number of fun runs, and military bands. The military parade didn’t enter the plans until this year, Army officials said, according to The Times.
While there are no plans to sing “Happy Birthday” to Trump or to the Army, one element includes members of the Army’s parachute team, the Golden Knights, landing and handing the president a flag.
The last large American military parade took place following the end of the Gulf War.
Trump watched the Bastille Day parade in Paris during his first year in the White House in 2017. He came back to the U.S. wanting his own parade, but the Pentagon at the time didn’t agree.
Guy Snodgrass, a former speechwriter to then-defense secretary Jim Mattis, wrote in the book Holding the Line that Mattis said he would “rather swallow acid.”
