Trump's Military Birthday Parade Was a Gross Failure [View all]
WASHINGTON — On Saturday, President Donald Trump held a hideously expensive military parade in Washington, D.C., on his birthday. Trump and his top officials stood on a stage at the National Mall behind two tanks, before two large digital American flags. Military bands and troops, some on horses, some in vehicles, some in tanks, others in Howitzers, marched in the streets. So did a few robot dogs. An army parachute team jumped down. Helicopters flew over. Drones flew by. There were many, many tanks.
The spectacle was billed as honoring the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday — and planners put in admirable effort to sell this fiction, with processions designed to honor key times in American military history. In reality, the event was just one part of the Trump administration’s vast, billion-dollar government effort to make the leader feel good about himself.
The weekend’s pageantry, which some administration officials referred to as “Donald Trump’s birthday parade” behind closed doors, fulfilled the president’s longtime desire for a grand military parade. Starting at the Pentagon in Virginia, the troops in the parade — who honored the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Global War on Terror — had to walk for about two-and-a-half miles.
Trump sat next to his wife Melania and the former Fox News host, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. At points, Trump stood alone in front onstage, such as when he saluted troops marching as the 1st Cavalry Division. At another point, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was pictured yawning on C-SPAN. The military officials shown on C-SPAN spoke with reverence about the War on Terror.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-military-birthday-parade-gross-012108688.html
Trump Hosts $45 Million Military Parade For Himself Before Underwhelming Crowd
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump finally got his North Korea-style military parade for his birthday Saturday, which featured tanks and rocket launchers rolling down the streets of the capital city before smaller-than-expected crowds.
“Every other country celebrates their victories, it’s about time America did too,” Trump said in a brief, eight-minute speech.
It followed the two-hour parade down Constitution Avenue, during which Trump primarily sat, appeared bored, but occasionally stood to salute the passing troops and military hardware.
Trump and his administration have claimed that the parade was actually to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Army’s founding by the Continental Congress in 1775, not Trump’s 79th. It’s unclear whether the Navy and the Marine Corps, branches also founded in 1775, will similarly get $45 million parades this year. Neither Trump nor the Pentagon has mentioned any such plans.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-hosts-45-million-military-012534293.html
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