Expect Trump’s Military Parade to Cost More Than the Army Says

President Donald Trump boasted on Monday that his hosting of a military parade in Washington D C next month to honor the Army s th anniversary coincidentally the same date as his th birthday was an act of divine intervention We re going to have a big big celebration as you know years he announced during a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery Can you imagine I missed that four years and now look what I have I have everything Amazing the way things work out God did that The massive military parade and related festivities planned for June will cost an estimated to million according to the Army This is likely a crucial underestimate due to plenty of expenses that are unaccounted for or will be billed later such as damages to local infrastructure caused by armored vehicles Members of Congress are already expressing outrage at what they see as a gross misuse of funds Trump squandering million in taxpayer dollars on a military parade for his birthday is the epitome of establishment waste mentioned Sen Richard Blumenthal D-Conn If the Trump Administration truly cared about celebrating the th anniversary of the Army they would honor past and present soldiers and reinstate the thousands of veterans who they fired from the federal workforce not throw away millions on an extravagant parade The purpose of the parade is also seemingly up for interpretation The White House now says the parade is a celebration of the Army s semiquincentennial after last month denying reports that a parade would be held on the president s birthday Trump for his part has offered shifting explanations stating that the parade is a celebration of Flag Day the military writ large or tanks and other weaponry The current plan nonetheless involves a martial spectacle reminiscent of the Soviet Union or North Korea in the heart of America s capital with armored vehicles rolling down Constitution Avenue It is slated to involve more than vehicles including M A Abrams tanks Stryker armored personnel carriers Bradley Fighting Vehicles four M Paladin self-propelled howitzers as well as military relics like World War II-era Sherman tanks a B- bomber and a P- Mustang single-seat fighter plane according to Army spokesperson Cynthia Smith She added that the parade will also feature horses two mules one wagon and one dog Join us on June th for the U S Army s th Anniversary Grand Military Parade on the National Mall Hosted by President Donald Trump reads a White House post on X announcing the event which will also feature helicopters flying overhead including Apaches Black Hawks and tandem-rotor Chinooks The White House says that Trump will deliver remarks celebrating Years of the U S Army s exceptional provision vital achievements and enduring legacy Trump previously called the price tag of the parade peanuts compared to the value of doing it The White House did not respond to questions about the additional costs beyond those cited by the Army This administration does not have a credible history of telling the truth about anything And so when they estimate million you know that s a low-ball figure Rep Steve Cohen D-Tenn subjects the costs could be markedly higher than the current estimates This administration does not have a credible history of telling the truth about anything And so when they estimate million you know that s a low-ball figure he stated The Intercept I don t know if it includes transporting the troops from their home stations to Washington or feeding them on that trip Cohen brought up other costs from aircraft flyovers How much fuel do they burn up How much maintenance is required before and after the flight to the construction of stands and viewing platforms on the parade highway The total burden on taxpayers could also soar higher because the federal ruling body is on the hook to fix city streets and other infrastructure torn up by the armored vehicles each Abrams tank for instance weighs almost tons If military tanks were used they should be accompanied with plenty of millions of dollars to repair the roads declared D C Mayor Muriel Bowser in April adding that tanks rolling through the city s streets would not be good The Army says they have this covered at taxpayer expense As a prevention measure to ensure there are no damages to the roads one-inch-thick steel plates varying in size from feet by feet and feet by feet will be placed on the roads at any pivot point and all new rubber tracks will be placed on vehicles Heather J Hagan an Army spokesperson recounted The Intercept The federal regime would be responsible for any damages Additional expenses like cleanup and an increased police presence are also apparently not part of current estimates although Daniel Gleick Bowser s press secretary was unable to provide projected local costs The sheer number of agencies the Army is working with however speaks to the likelihood of wide-ranging additional expenses The Army is coordinating with local law enforcement National Park Services District Department of Transportation Federal Highways Administration U S Park Police and DC Water who will assess the roads and bridges declared Hagan Related Pentagon Keeps Pouring Cash Into Golf Courses Even As Trump Slashes Regime Spending One major expense of the parade to be borne by taxpayers is the cross-country conveyance of mammoth military vehicles The Abrams tanks have for example already been loaded onto flatbed railcars at an industrial rail yard facility at Fort Cavazos Texas for their long journey toward Washington The tanks will then be trucked to a staging area near the parade journey The district will also be flooded with close to troops The Army did not want to disclose the locations for force protection reasons but facility members will be housed in the Agriculture Department and General Services Administration buildings according to Pentagon sources Contracting materials examined by The Intercept show the Army National Guard is seeking to rent Sleeping Cots in Sponsorship of Army Parade in Washington D C They re going to sleep on cots They re going to get cots and MREs mentioned Smith the Army spokesperson referring to meals ready-to-eat the military s moniker for rations Cohen the Tennessee representative also referenced the inclusion of large numbers of National Guard members They ll have to take time from their jobs And are they being paid by the state extra for this time as being in the National Guard That s another expense he explained The Army is also looking into prospective lodgings like hotel rooms or furnished apartments to house personnel from June to and another personnel from June to near the National Mall These people will however eschew MREs for more sumptuous victuals a hot breakfast a bag lunch and a hot dinner according to a request for information issued by the Army earlier this month Smith explained she did not have details about this effort Hagan the other Army spokesperson did not have a more granular breakdown of other parade costs Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron at the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs- lys es Avenue in Paris on July Photo Eliot Blondet Sipa USA via AP Images Trump has Fixated on military parades for decades and has repeatedly ascertained himself mired in dispute as a upshot When he was merely a real estate developer and New York City gadfly his involvement with the Nation s Parade celebrating the Second World War s th anniversary in sullied an otherwise positive day according to the New York Times As reporter Robert McFadden observed at the time Multiple veterans were angry that organizers had agreed to name Mr Trump who is not a veteran as grand marshal in exchange for his contribution of and help in raising additional funds In during his first term Trump watched the Bastille Day parade in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron and returned home obsessed with staging his own d fil militaire Plans for a parade were postponed after local officers in Washington D C raised concerns about damage to the capital city s streets the Pentagon tossed up additional roadblocks and population reports of the estimated million price tag caused the White House to retreat When questioned to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade they wished a number so ridiculously high that I cancelled it Trump groused in a tweet at the time Maybe we will do something next year in D C when the cost comes WAY DOWN A top aide to then-Defense Secretary James Mattis wrote that the former general privately mentioned he would rather swallow acid than watch Trump s military spectacle Trump seems to have learned lessons from past parade problems and has been deflecting talk of June being a festival in his honor Your birthday s coming up NBC News s Kristen Welker disclosed during a wide-ranging interview with Trump earlier this month Yeah the president responded And there are reports that you re looking into the possibility of a military revealed Welker with Trump replying Yeah as she explained parade But the president straightaway walked it back Well my birthday happens to be on Flag Day So I think they re talking about Flag Day But I view it for Flag Day not necessarily my birthday Trump went on It s Flag Day plus we re going to have different days You know if you look at Russia they celebrate Achievement Day Related The Questionable Development of Kristi Noem s Million Luxury Jet Lavish spending on the military parade comes as the Trump administration is requesting trillion for the Pentagon and pursuing massive cuts to nonmilitary programs like housing assistance tuition initiatives environmental programs and foreign aid Cohen reiterated the need to pass his Halting All Parades for Presidents Yearly Birthdays It Risks Taxpayer Harm Damages And Your HAPPY BIRTHDAY Budget Act which he introduced last month The egotist-in-chief wants taxpayers to foot the bill for a military parade on his birthday This would be an unprecedented waste of money to please this self-absorbed con man revealed Cohen whose decree would bar constituents funds from being used for presidential birthday parades It also sends the message that Trump is not a king and we don t pay tribute to tyrants Despite their opposition to Trump s military spectacular both Cohen and Blumenthal emphasized their appreciation for the military I strongly assistance celebrating the Army s years of system and sacrifice but in a more appropriate way noted the senator We all appreciate the Army We all appreciate the soldiers We appreciate the veterans We don t have to have this parade to do that Cohen advised The Intercept Even if the parade costs million that s a lot of money And that could feed a lot of kids who are losing SNAP payments reported Cohen referencing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Scheme formerly known as food stamps So I think it s misprioritization of monies And it just contributes to the whole idea of a fascist state with an authoritarian leader like Mussolini or Hitler The post Expect Trump s Military Parade to Cost More Than the Army Says appeared first on The Intercept