Army plans for a potential parade on Trump's birthday call for 6,600 soldiers, AP learns

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 7:14 PM EDT, May 1, 2025


WASHINGTON (AP) — Detailed Army plans for a potential military parade on President Donald Trump’s birthday in June call for more than 6,600 soldiers, at least 150 vehicles, 50 helicopters, seven bands and possibly a couple thousand civilians, The Associated Press has learned.

The planning documents, obtained by the AP, are dated April 29 and 30 and have not been publicly released. They represent the Army’s most recent blueprint for its long-planned 250th birthday festival on the National Mall and the newly added element — a large military parade that Trump has long wanted but is still being discussed.

While the slides do not include any price estimates, it would likely cost tens of millions of dollars to put on a parade of that size. Costs would include the movement of military vehicles, equipment, aircraft and troops from across the country to Washington and the need to feed and house thousands of service members.

High costs halted Trump’s push for a parade in his first term, and the tanks and other heavy vehicles that are part of the Army’s latest plans have raised concerns from city officials about damage to roads.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/army-parade-trump-birthday-96bb9c8e9af1ef285c56fdc3d1ba4b35

[Doodley]

1. But can't afford cancer research. It's another moment that will push down his poll numbers.

[dem4decades]

5. Only if the Democrats make enough noise about it.

[NJCher]

26. We're making noise

Today at the Mayday protests, a speaker mentioned this parade and the military.

You should have heard the chorus of boos!

Also, I detected an instant turn in the mood of the crowd when the speaker brought this up.

[ReRe]

38. Describe the "instant turn in the mood" please

Like, did the crowd become quiet & thoughtful? Or more rowdy? Mad and mumbling curse words? What? Wish I could have been there. Did anyone mention Martial Law?

[NJCher]

41. Angry and indignant

Very hostile to the idea.

Contemptuous.

[ReRe]

42. Hmmm.

Sounds like this crowd would not be happy campers come June 14th. I bet Trump backs down.

[wnylib]

66. That's good, but it's to be expected from people who are there to protest the administration.

I wonder what the reaction would be among Trump supporters and how to make sure that they are fully aware of the extraordinary cost of such a useless and egotistical parade.

Left and right tune into different media, so how to get info like this to RWers? Do we need to start using RW attention-getting tactics like outrageous clothing and public behavior to draw media cameras and mics?

[brush]

37. One good thing...the birthday parade will remind voters TSF is just about 80-years-old...

and in steep, mental decline.

Woohoo!

[Doodley]

63. Good point!

[tonekat]

2. For a real celebration

There should be a parade of Postal Vehicles, Meals on Wheels, Bookmobiles, Mobile Clinics, Mass Transit. Maybe a flyover from that Airborne Eye Surgery plane.

Not the instruments of war.

[NJCher]

27. I just want to

You for that idea.

[Turbineguy]

3. They should wear kilts

so the can moon him.

[FailureToCommunicate]

4. I am outraged as a taxpayer, but as a human, I just wanna barf

[Swede]

6. Ahem

[dem4decades]

7. Is it possible to teach 6500 how to goose step in that short of time?

[ImNotGod]

8. marching to a springtime for hitler choras . nt

[Permanut]

9. I'm thinking he might have a uniform made .

Epaulets, sashes, lots of medals.

[Escape]

11. Yes....

Something gold, something gaudy, something tacky and over the top.

The comedians are gonna love this.

[yorkster]

33. Like Richard Dreyfuss in Moon Over Parador..

[DENVERPOPS]

44. Perfect..............

anyone got a picture????? Maybe someone could photoshop Trump on the picture....

[yorkster]

59. There's the powder blue or the white

Either would be perfect. Sorry my skills are
lacking in the image embedding area.
I also think the hat Dreyfuss wore was dinner plate size. Like Russian generals wear. Appropriate as hell.

[tanyev]

35. We know he's already got a French Fry Certification Pin.

[DENVERPOPS]

45. wow

is he thinning out on top, and gray

Holding the cards with thumb and forefinger is a dog whistle to all the White Suprematists..........

[brush]

39. At least get TSF out of that tired blue suit he wars everywhere...

including stupidly to the Pope's funeral for God's sake.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

10. This draft dodger does not deserve a parade

[Deuxcents]

17. Agree 100%

[Bayard]

40. That just might be my protest sign for this Saturday

[greatauntoftriplets]

12. A waste of time and taxpayers' money to stroke that fool's tender ego.

Can you imagine the reaction if Joe Biden or Barack Obama had demanded one of these?

[R0ckyRac00n]

13. This makes me want to vomit.

n/t

[bamagal62]

51. I think I did

Vomit just thinking about it.

[Harker]

14. Anwar Sadat. n/t

[IA8IT]

34. Well that did happened

[kimbutgar]

15. Thousands of us should line the streets with our backs turned to this insane parade.

I hope the military feels mighty uncomfortable!

And also protest in the streets in our own communities.

[William Seger]

28. Thousands of us should stand IN the streets!

[JoseBalow]

16. Nothing fascist about this at all

[Deuxcents]

18. Waste and abuse of taxpayers but by god, we can't afford USAID, SS, Medicare, Medicaid

School lunches, medical research and the list goes on. TSF is spending our country’s resources, treasures and money for his insatiable ego

[NJCher]

29. I don't want my tax $$

Subsidizing this slob’s needy ego.

[BidenRocks]

19. Zelensky called Putins Victory Day parade,

a target. Now Moscow is worried.
This is gratuitous bullshit and cannot be legal.
This is personal servitude, kissing a superiors ass when they order it.
I want a parade like Vlad and Kim.
Let's give him the Anwar special!

[William Seger]

20. "possibly a couple thousand civilians"

How about a few hundred thousand civilians standing in front of the tanks?

[NJCher]

30. YES!

Eom

[Norrrm]

21. Trump does not want to salute the military... He wants the world to see the military salute him.

[thought crime]

22. Do plans include Goose-stepping?

[Pas-de-Calais]

23. Here's hoping for heavy winds,

Torrential rain.

All day that dsy

[Kablooie]

24. Eisenhower rejected Soviet military parades,

Eisenhower rejected proposals to mimic Soviet military parades, believing such displays would undermine U.S. credibility and would make America look weak.

[Karasu]

25. Hey, DOGE...I hear you fuckers have barely managed to save a fraction of what you lied--er, said--you would

after firing thousands of people for no fucking good reason.

Want an easy way to save tens of millions?

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

49. How many Head Start centers and Meals on Wheels programs could be funded

With the money that's going to wasted on Dear Leader's ego parade?

Usually military displays -- like a B2 flyover at the Rose Bowl -- is combined with a training mission. Having 50 -- FIFTY!-- helicopters flying by the reviewing stand so Donnie Two Dolls (thank you, Lawrence O'Donnell) can stand there like Mussolini is just pure waste.

I've got an idea for a training mission: have a formation of B52s carpet bomb Mar-A-Lego into sand.

[Karasu]

50. +1000!

Absolutely. Frankly, I still can't wrap my head around the sheer stupidity of the very fucking idea of this. This is the quintessential definition of "waste", and I don't see how even these fascists can spin it as anything but.

How ironic that DOGE has fuck-all to say about it. LOL

Hmm. Funny, that.

[CentralMass]

31. The troops should goosestep for $chitler

?si=HS3qykBCOFR9va7b

[usonian]

32. Will they be armed?

Asking for a friend.

[cstanleytech]

36. I have no problems with it as long as Trump pays for all of it himself.....up front.

Of course since hes a bum who won't pay his debts already I don't see that happening.

[WVGIRL]

43. Hell no! We don't want a trump parade!!!

He will have all of his minions there with army back ups! if we protest, he’ll declare ML!

[Rhiannon12866]

46. Just like Putin!

This is TFG's dream come true...

[Jack Valentino]

47. Will any of their weapons be armed with ammunition ???

That's all that I care to know.

[KPN]

61. Good question. I was actually thinking wouldn't it be great if a mega-protest were organized in counter to

the "parade" -- on site -- that day. Hadn't thought about firepower.

[BaronChocula]

48. Take him out

to the ballgame instead. Nats are playing Boston. The crowd can chant "The traitor is coming, the traitor is coming."

[Duncanpup]

52. This is some stupid it is embarrassing.

A parade for a draft dodger and it is also like Russia with May Day parade.

[claudette]

53. What a total waste of taxpayers' money

on an orange convicted felon. My America is gone.

[The Wizard]

54. Squandered resources:

Where's DOGE when we need it?

[The Wizard]

55. Spike Jones lives

[The Wizard]

56. Mel Brooks saw this coming.

[johnnyfins]

57. Will 6/14 finally be the day

When he puts on his military costume?

I like the idea of completely over taking social media with every picture we can find of Barack Obama on that day.

Will Joe and Mika be giving the play by play and announcing each military unit?

I can't believe that this is going to happen in our country.

[Canada Kid]

58. A parade for "The Fuhrer"

This really smacks of Nazism! Dictators around the world and throughout history held parades in their honor to cement their autocratic positions in society. This practice lends to a belief that they are indispensable, superior, and somehow godlike to their subordinates. A highly dangerous image in todays society. This idiot perceives that he is some kind of emperor!

[travelingthrulife]

60. Where is DOGE to put a stop to this waste of federal dollars?

[bluestarone]

62. Wouldn't all this equipment do damage to roads?

Who is gonna fix them, and who's gonna pay for it?

[BumRushDaShow]

64. That's why they cancelled such a fiasco the first time (aside from the cost)

Since most of the D.C. streets are asphalt-paved and that gets hot real fast, imagine the kinds of ruts that a tank (or many tanks) would do to that.

Link to tweet

Muriel Bowser
@MurielBowser
Yup, I’m Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, the local politician who finally got thru to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad).
Quote
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
Aug 17, 2018
The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly) know a windfall when they see it. When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I cancelled it. Never let someone hold you up! I will instead...
8:52 AM · Aug 17, 2018
from Washington, DC

What ultimately happened is that they had some "brand new" Shermans and Abrams in a "static display" at the Lincoln Memorial for the Fourth of July celebration. They brought them closer to the city by train, then moved them to flatbeds, then had a big crane take them off the flatbeds, and then drove the flatbeds through the city to the Memorial -



(below from here - https://wtop.com/fourth-of-july/2019/07/tank-watch-2019-july-4-tanks-seen-on-the-move-in-dc/)

Link to tweet

Mike Valerio
@ValerioCNN
·
Follow
NEW — @USArmy says armored vehicles WILL move through WASHINGTON TONIGHT.

Specifically:
Two M1 Bradley Armored Personnel Carriers.

Army spokesperson says, “you’ll see them moving through your neighborhood, but DON’T PANIC.”

@WUSA9 #SaluteToAmerica #FourthofJuly
8:02 PM · Jul 2, 2019
from Washington, DC

Link to tweet

Cole
@eloc8
·
Follow
Just left the Nats game, and we were greeted by Trump's tanks rolling through just outside the ballpark @fox5dc @nbcwashington
10:04 PM · Jul 2, 2019
from Washington, DC

Trump touts ‘brand new’ World War II-era tank display at Fourth of July celebration

And Russia laughed - Russian Media Reported ‘Rusty’ Tanks Displayed in Washington, DC on July 4

[PortTack]

65. Sickening