Trump Isn't Getting His Military Parade This Year

Pentagon says it's now looking at 2019
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 17, 2018 5:25 AM CDT
Updated Aug 17, 2018 5:39 AM CDT
Pentagon: Trump's Military Parade Has Been Postponed
In this July 14, 2017 photo, French President Emmanuel Macron, right, and President Trump attend the traditional Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees, in Paris.   (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

Cost estimates of up to $80 million over initial predictions appear to have rained on President Trump's parade. Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning says Trump's plan for a military parade in Washington, DC, this fall have been postponed until next year at the earliest, the BBC reports. "The Department of Defense and White House have been planning a parade to honor America’s military veterans and commemorate the centennial of World War I," Manning said Thursday, per the Washington Post. "We originally targeted November 10, 2018, for this event but have now agreed to explore opportunities in 2019."

Manning gave no reason for the postponement of the parade, which Trump called for after being impressed by Bastille Day celebrations in France last year. The parade would have been the first of its kind in the US since a Gulf War victory parade in 1991. Critics, however, said it would have been reminiscent of authoritarian regimes and even some veterans' groups spoke out against it, the AP reports. American Legion National Commander Denise Rohan said they appreciate Trump's desire to show support for the troops, but until "we can celebrate victory in the War on Terrorism and bring our military home, we think the parade money would be better spent fully funding the Department of Veteran Affairs and giving our troops and their families the best care possible." (More parade stories.)

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