The US Army 250th Anniversary Grand Military Parade and Celebration on Armed Forces Day, June 14, which is also Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, will cost an estimated $45 million, and deploy thousands of troops and tanks, reminiscent of an authoritarian dictator’s parade, as for Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin. Normally, such a parade would not be so elaborate and costly.
It is an unnecessary expense, totally uncalled for, and yet another sign of the danger Donald Trump repesents, and it will do great harm to the streets of Washington DC, along with shutting down all air traffic into Reagan National Airport for the entire day.
It is ironic that Trump is supporting this, since he was a draft dodger and used false claims of “bone spurs” to avoid any military service, and his own sons have avoided such military commitment on their own.
And this is a President who ridiculed Senator John McCain for having been a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and called those who served and died for the nation as “suckers” and “losers” when in Normandy, France to commemorate D Day while he was in office for his first term.
No earlier President ever called for or advocated a military parade to salute a President, and Dwight D. Eisenhower specifically spoke out against such a concept, even though he had been a general during World War II.
THe waste of government resources, and glorification of Trump is a total outrage.
Meanwhile, Veterans Benefits are being cut in the “Big And Beautiful” legislation being promoted for passage in Congress.