Donald Trump asks the Pentagon for a military parade
By rjoseph1
Global News
Posted February 6, 2018 9:49 pm EST
2 min read
This article is more than 7 years old and some information may not be up to date.
U.S President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump attend the traditional Bastille day military parade on the Champs-Elysees on July 14, 2017 in Paris France. Bastille Day, the French National day commemorates this year the 100th anniversary of the entry of the United States of America into World War I.
Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images
Donald Trump wants a parade to celebrate U.S. military members, the White House confirmed on Tuesday.
Story continues below advertisement
“President Trump is incredibly supportive of America’s great service members who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe,” White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.
“He has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation.”
An anonymous military official told the Washington Post that the president was inspired by a parade he saw in Paris, on Bastille Day.
“The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,” the official told the Post. “This is being worked at the highest levels of the military.”
IN PHOTOS: France’s Bastille Day Parade that captivated Donald Trump’s attention
1/4
French Air Forces passed the Concorde during the traditional Bastille day military parade on the Champs-Elysees on July 14, 2017 in Paris France. Bastille Day, the French National day commemorates this year the 100th anniversary of the entry of the United States of America into World War I.
Photo by Antoine Gyori/Corbis via Getty Images
View full screen
2/4
PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 14: the traditional Bastille day military parade, French "Garde Republicaine" on the Place de la Concorde on July 14, 2017 in Paris France. Bastille Day, the French National day commemorates this year the 100th anniversary of the entry of the United States of America into World War I. (Photo by Antoine Gyori/Corbis via Getty Images)
Photo by Antoine Gyori/Corbis via Getty Images
View full screen
3/4
U.S President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Trogneux attend the traditional Bastille day military parade on the Champs-Elysees on July 14, 2017 in Paris France. Bastille Day, the French National day commemorates this year the 100th anniversary of the entry of the United States of America into World War I.
Photo by Thierry Chesnot/Getty Images
View full screen
4/4
The Special Military School of Saint-Cyr Legion march during the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris, France, on July 14, 2017.
Xinhua/Chen Yichen via Getty Images
View full screen
Trump has previously praised the French parade, saying in September, “It was one of the greatest parades I have ever seen.”
Story continues below advertisement
At the time, he mentioned he would like to see his own country produce a similar celebration for Independence Day festivities.
Trump officials said planning is still in its “infancy,” according to the Post, and a date hasn’t been set.
The newspaper listed a few pitfalls of hosting a parade, including the cost, which could be in the millions of dollars, and the fact that army tanks could “chew up” the streets in Washington.
Story continues below advertisement
Muscular military parades of the kind that are common in authoritarian countries like China and North Korea are not common in the U.S.
IN PHOTOS: North Korea’s military parades feature missiles as displays of strength
1/3
FILE - In this April 15, 2017 file photo, a submarine-launched ballistic missile is displayed in Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un.
AP Photo/Wong Maye-E
View full screen
2/3
FILE - In this Saturday, April 15, 2017 file photo, missiles are paraded across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade in Pyongyang, marking the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un.
(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
View full screen
3/3
In this Saturday, July 27, 2013, file photo, North Korean soldiers turn and look towards leader Kim Jong Un as they carry packs marked with the nuclear symbol during a parade marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang, North Korea.
(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
The U.S. traditionally has not embraced showy displays of raw military power, such as North Korea’s parading of ballistic missiles, as a claim of international prestige and influence.
Story continues below advertisement
In fact, North Korea is currently planning a “threatening” military parade on the day before the start of the 2018 Olympics, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
Along with France, Russia also hosts a historical military parade on Victory Day, celebrating its Second World War victories. France’s Bastille Day parade has celebrated its military since Napoleonic times.
IN PHOTOS: Russia’s annual parade celebrates historical military victories
1/3
Russian soldier in historical uniform performs after the military parade on the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, 07 November 2017.
EPA/YURI KOCHETKOV
View full screen
2/3
A volunteer sits atop of a legendary Soviet era T-34 tank during a rehearsal of the historical parade in Red Square, in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017.
(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
View full screen
3/3
Russian soldiers and volunteers dressed in historical uniforms take part in the parade in Red Square in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. The parade marked the 76th anniversary of a World War II historic parade in Red Square and honored the participants in the Nov. 7, 1941 parade who headed directly to the front lines to defend Moscow from the Nazi forces.
(AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
View full screen
John Kirby, a retired Navy rear admiral and former spokesman for the State Department and the Pentagon, reposted on Twitter Tuesday night, an article he wrote for CNN’s website last summer after Trump mentioned he had been dazzled by the Paris parade. Kirby said a big military parade in Washington is a bad idea.
Story continues below advertisement
“First of all, the United States doesn’t need a parade down Pennsylvania or any other avenue to show our military strength,” he wrote. “We do that every day in virtually every clime all over the world.”