| Part ofUnited States Semiquincentennial celebrations | |
.jpg) | |
| Date | June 14, 2025 (2025-06-14)[4] |
|---|---|
| Time | 6:30 p.m. planned,[4] actual 6:00 p.m. to avoid rain[5] (EDT) |
| Duration | 90 minutes |
| Location | fromThe Pentagon,Virginia, to theNational Mall,Washington, D.C. |
| Budget | $25–$45 million[6] |
| Participants | |
The250th Birthday of the U.S. Army Grand Military Parade and Celebration took place on June 14, 2025, inArlington, Virginia, andWashington, D.C., to officially commemorate the 250th anniversary of theUnited States Army onJune 14, 1775, the oldest of the six branches of theUnited States Armed Forces.[7] It is part of the celebrations marking theUnited States Semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding and described as a "soft launch" of official celebrations.[8]
The parade coincided with both the 79th birthday ofDonald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of the United States,[9][10][11] andFlag Day. It was the firstmilitary parade in Washington D.C. since the 1991National Victory Celebration held by PresidentGeorge H.W. Bush, which commemorated U.S. soldiers in the involvement and conclusion of theGulf War.[12]
The parade involved around 6,600 soldiers from at least 11 corps and divisions nationwide, with at least 150 vehicles, 50 helicopters, warplanes, horses, mules, parachutists, celebrities, seven bands' musical performances, and several thousand civilian attendees.[13]
The parade facedbipartisan criticism due to its high projected cost, estimated at between $25 and $45 million, especially as it coincided with broader government cost-cutting measures.[14][15][16] Additional controversy arose from its timing on Trump's birthday, which critics argued politicized the military and drew comparisons to displays typically seen inauthoritarian regimes.[17][18] The idea for the parade originated during Trump's first term, whena similar proposal was rejected bythe Pentagon over concerns that it would appear overly political.[19] Millions of demonstrators attendednationwide protests against the parade and Trump's policies on the same day in the largest coordinated protests since the start of the second Trump administration.[20][21]
During his first presidential term, Donald Trump had advocated for amilitary parade on Veterans Day in 2018. Trump espoused this desire after watching France'sBastille Day celebrations in 2017.
The idea was opposed by Pentagon officials who said they wanted to keep the military out of politics. Defense secretaryJim Mattis reportedly told Trump he would "rather swallow acid" than have the parade, while Gen.Paul J. Selva remarked that military parades were "what dictators do". Trump canceled the 2018 parade, citing projected costs, but directed the2019 Salute to America Independence Day event at theNational Mall. Trump again brought up the idea for a parade in 2020 with Mattis's successor,Mark T. Esper, who suggested an "air parade" to coincide with July 4.[14] The Trump administration ultimately organized the 2020Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration and2020 Salute to America as part of Independence Day celebrations.
.jpg)
The Army began planning a 250th-birthday celebration in 2023, and making plans for an event in Washington, D.C., in 2024.[22][23] In 2025, during his second term, Trump again ordered a military parade from the Pentagon.The New York Times described the Pentagon's quick acceptance as the result of a more acquiescent Pentagon without the guardrails present in his first term.[14] The Army stated the parade was Trump's idea and planning for it only began a few months beforehand,[22] withAxios describing it as a "soft launch" of official celebrations for theUnited States Semiquincentennial.[8]
In April 2025, the Army approached D.C. officials about making the 250th birthday celebration bigger by adding demonstrations and vehicle displays on the National Mall in a multi-day event that could also include a military parade.[23]
The original plan called for a parade route that stretched almost four miles (6.4 km) from the Pentagon in Arlington to the White House. Ultimately, a shorter route was chosen.[24]
By May of 2025, the Army was expecting to spend between $25 million and $45 million on the parade,[6] including an estimated $16 million worth of damage to Washington's streets.[25] By comparison, the estimated cost of Trump's planned 2018 military parade, featuring all service branches, was $100 million, the specific focus on the Army was expected to reduce cost.[22] By June, the Army was reporting the parade would cost $40 million. While the parade is unique to the celebration of the Army, no official parades are planned for the Navy or Marines which also celebrate their 250th anniversary in 2025.[26]
Most of the tanks, vehicles and equipment for the parade were shipped fromFort Hood, Texas, toJessup, Maryland, by train, and were then transported on flatbed trucks to D.C.[22] Soldiers for the parade slept in cots in government buildings, including the Department of Agriculture headquarters, a government warehouse owned by the General Service Administration on Seventh Street, and atJoint Base Andrews.[27][28] The Army had difficulty finding uniforms for theWar of 1812 and theSpanish-American War and eventually eliminated them from the program,[27] due to "running into trouble with the costuming process".[29] Many of the costumes were sourced from Hollywood prop houses.[30]
The parade began 30 minutes early, at 6 p.m. EDT, due to weather conditions.[5] Events related to the 250th Anniversary started earlier in the day at the National Mall, including the "Army's 250th Birthday Festival" which ran from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.[31] The parade itself followed a route down Constitution Avenue 23rd Street, NW to 15th Street NW, past the White House. Heavy, tracked vehicles were stationed near theLincoln Memorial.[32] A concert was held at 7:30 p.m. at the Ellipse.[31] The evening ended with a fireworks display.[33]
.jpg)
.jpg)
The parade included the following participants:[34][35]
.jpg)
The parade included the followingequipment:[34][36]
The concert after the parade included the following performers:
A number of corporations, includingOracle,Amazon, Exiger,[37]BNY,Goldman Sachs,Coinbase,Lockheed Martin,Palantir Technologies,Stellantis (and theirChrysler,Jeep,Dodge andRam brands),Coca-Cola,Walmart,Ultimate Fighting Championship,Phorm Energy,Nextdoor,FedEx, andScotts Miracle-Gro, were sponsors of the event.[38][39]
The parade drew concern over its high cost, with the Army estimating $25 million to $45 million for the parade,[6] along with an estimated $16 million to damages of the roads.[25] TheArmy Corps of Engineers stated its worst-case scenario had the cost of damage at $16 million, but that it expected to be reduced to $3.5 million after plans were made to put down steel plates and reinforce them with railroad ties to protect the road.[22] The Army further stated it was placing new track pads on tanks to create further separation between the metal track and the ground.[25] Trump stated that the cost was "peanuts compared to the value of doing it."[26] Criticism was particularly raised over the cost due to the Trump administration's cost-cutting efforts elsewhere in the government for education, health, and public assistance.[14]
The Intercept reported that the $45 million cost was likely an underestimate due to unaccounted for expenses, and that members of Congress were "already expressing outrage at what they see as a gross misuse of funds."[15] Democratic SenatorRichard Blumenthal criticized the parade, stating that "Trump squandering $45 million in taxpayer dollars on a military parade for his birthday is the epitome of government waste",[15] calling it "exorbitant" and criticizing it while large budget cuts for "training programs, freezes on hiring, shrinking staff levels, deferring maintenance, jeopardizing equipment maintenance fees" were ongoing.[16] Democratic RepresentativeSteve Cohen stated that "this administration does not have a credible history of telling the truth about anything" and that "when they estimate $45 million, you know that's a low-ball figure".[15] Democratic SenatorTammy Duckworth stated she would rather the Army spend the money on childcare and tuition reimbursement for military families.[16]
Politico reported that GOP senators had questioned the cost of the parade, with Republican Senate Armed Services Committee ChairRoger Wicker saying that "I would have recommended against the parade", but that "the secretary feels that it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for thousands of young Americans to see what a great opportunity it is to participate in a great military force, that it will be a recruiting tool. So, we'll see."[16] Republican Senate Appropriations ChairSusan Collins stated that she supported celebrating the army, but that "the cost does seem a bit steep".[16] Republican Sen.Ron Johnson stated that "If it costs money, I won't go".[16]
The parade was criticized over apparent politicization and its occurrence on Trump's birthday.[14]USA Today reported there was significant debate whether the parade is "a celebration of the Army's storied heritage, or an homage to Trump and the political movement he leads? Or both?"[27] The stated purpose of the parade shifted over time, with the Army first stating that it would not happen on Trump's birthday and later that it would only celebrate the Army's semiquincentennial.[15] Trump defended himself against claims the parade was celebrating his birthday, stating that it was a celebration of Flag Day, the military at large, and vehicles and weapons, saying "I view it for Flag Day, not necessarily my birthday. Somebody put it together. But no, I think we're going to do something on June 14, maybe, or somewhere around there. But I think June 14. It's a very important day."[27] Republican SenatorJim Justice stated that he thought "It's great celebrating President Trump's birthday, and I think it's great celebrating the military".[40]
Democratic lawmakers argued the parade was being used for Trump's own political purposes.[19] Democratic SenatorJack Reed stated that the event was "all about his ego and making everything about him."[19] Democratic SenatorTammy Duckworth criticized Army SecretaryDaniel P. Driscoll about the parade, stating "Let's be clear: You're not doing it to celebrate the Army's birthday, you're doing it to stroke Donald Trump's ego".[16] Democratic Senate Armed Services Committee member Richard Blumenthal criticized the parade as celebrating both the Army and Trump's ego, stating that "It is Donald Trump who is the focus of his own attention, and the Army birthday just happened to be a convenient excuse", and questioned why he did not simply celebrate all military services birthdays rather than the only one that fell on his birthday.[26]
On June 10,Politico reported that of 50 federal Republican lawmakers it contacted, only seven planned to attend, with the chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees skipping the parade.[40]
Concern was raised over the optics of the parade, with NBC News describing Pentagon worries for the initial 2018 parade that it "could be seen as akin to the kind commonly seen inMoscow,Beijing orPyongyang, North Korea".[25]The Intercept described the 2025 parade as "a martial spectacle reminiscent of the Soviet Union or North Korea in the heart of America's capital".[15] Associate professor Risa Brooks of Marquette University questioned whether the military was celebrating Trump, stating that "tanks rolling down streets of the capital doesn't look like something consistent with the tradition of a professional, highly capable military" but "looks instead like a military that is politicized and turning inwardly, focusing on domestic oriented adversaries instead of external ones".[14] Republican SenatorRand Paul criticized the parade, stating that he was worried about the image it could send and that he was not a fan of "goose-stepping soldiers and big tanks and missiles rolling down the street" and that "we were always different than, you know, the images you saw in the Soviet Union and North Korea. We were proud not to be that".[41] BothAxios andThe New Yorker described the parade as capping off "Trump's Strongman Week" following his military deployment of federal troops during theLos Angeles protests and a partisan speech in front of soldiers at Fort Bragg.[42][43] Duke University political science professorPeter Feaver stated that on the parade, "the military won't die on this hill even if they do not like it", and that "Trump's 2.0 team is better at giving the president what he wants whether or not it is best in the long run".[14]
Several veterans groups refused to participate in the parade. TheVietnam Veterans of America chapter in Northern Virginia refused to provide 25 veterans seating in the official reviewing stand, with chapter president Jay Kalner stating that "If it were just a matter of celebrating the Army's 250th birthday, there'd be no question" but that "we felt it was being conflated with Trump's birthday, and we didn't want to be a prop for that".[44]PBS News reported that veterans were divided over the parade, with some liking the parade's celebration of the military and service members while others criticized perceived politicization, "chest-pounding", and it distracting from planned budget cuts to theDepartment of Veterans Affairs.[17]
.jpg)
The day before the parade, two groups of veterans and military family members,About Face: Veterans Against the War andVeterans for Peace, led a protest against the parade at the US Capitol. Sixty of the protesters were arrested byCapitol Police.[45]Refuse Fascism held a protest outside the White House prior to the parade.[46]
Coinciding with the parade, millions of demonstrators showed up for theNo Kings protests in over 2,000 events across the United States in the largest coordinated protests since the start of the second Trump administration.[20][21] The protests, organized by the50501 movement, opposed the parade as well as the policies and actions of Trump in general. The protests followed several days ofother protests in response toImmigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) raids across the United States, including in California, where Trump deployed both theCalifornia National Guard and theUnited States Marine Corps in response to rioting during theJune protests in Los Angeles.[47]
Trump stated that anyone who protested his parade in Washington would be met by "very big force", stating that "this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force".[48]The New York Times reported that several current and former Army officials and defense experts were uncomfortable with the optics of the parade following Trump's decision to federalize the California National Guard in Los Angeles and deploy active duty Marines, stating the simultaneous images were a juxtaposition that "could make it appear as if the military is celebrating a crackdown on Americans" and was "not the image Army officials had wanted".[44]The Washington Post described the dueling images as fueling partisan conflict "as some Americans cheer Trump's strong hand in quashing purported chaos and others decry what they see as his growing embrace of authoritarian tactics" and noted the Los Angeles protests were becoming "increasingly conflated" with Trump's parade.[49]
The New York Times reported that the parade was overshadowed by theshootings of Minnesota state legislators,Israeli strikes on Iran, and competing narratives on television and social media that criticized the event for using the military to promote Trump and suppress dissent during recent protests. It also described the event as suffering from numerous logistical obstacles and muted enthusiasm from spectators, with its reporters describing "an at-times underwhelming performance and crowds dispersing early amid a light drizzle".[50] The No Kings protests also drew significant television coverage from the event.[51] Organizers for the parade expected "hundreds of thousands" of spectators, although many seats remained empty amid sparse crowds whichThe Times attributed to the poor weather and nationwide protests.[52]The Wall Street Journal described the crowds as "sparse" and "celebratory but subdued".[53]BBC News described the simultaneous protests and parade as a "split screen" and "a day of two distinct public displays".[54]The Guardian described the parade as "neither the totalitarianNorth Korean spectacle that critics had grimly predicted, nor the triumph ofMAGA nationalism that Trump's most diehard fans craved", but was simply a parade that was "a little underwhelming". It described the public event as poorly planned, with too few and overflowing garbage cans, not enough exits, only a handful of food trucks, and a lack of signs and directions making it difficult to find one's way in or out. It quoted aSecret Service officer who stated "Nobody knows what's going on."[55] The event's corporate sponsorships with four companies with close connections to President Trump drew ethics concerns over possible violations of federal regulations.[56]
Many social media users mocked the parade due to poor marching and a lack of sync and discipline among parading personnel.[57][58][59] One user commented that the lack of enthusiasm made it look like "prisoners of war are marching".[60]
According to journalistMichael Wolff, Trump "kind of reamed out" Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about the parade, because he thought its tone was wrong, with Wolff describing Trump as wanting a "menacing" parade and was unhappy about soldiers "having a good time, that they were waving, that they were enjoying themselves and showing a convivial face rather than a military face". White House communications directorSteven Cheung responded to the allegations by calling Wolff "a lying sack of shit".[61]
Trump said that the parade was a "tremendous success", that "it didn't rain at all" despite forecasts and was "beautiful".[61]
An AP-NORC at the University of Chicago poll released on June 12 found that 60% of all US adults thought the parade was not a good use of government money compared to 38% who thought it was. It also found 40% approved of the parade compared to 29% who disapproved and 31% who did not choose either option.[62] An NBC poll conducted from May 30-June 10 and released on the day of the parade found that 64% of respondents opposed the use of government funds for the event.[63]
.jpg)
The parade was classified as anational special security event,[32] and had various impacts on travel in metropolitan Washington. Roads around the parade were closed for multiple days and manyMetrobus lines had detours.[64][65]
TheFAA set temporary flight restrictions[66] within thespecial flight rules area aroundReagan National Airport to suspend flights for the parade from 6 p.m to 9:30 p.m,[67] which is unusually disruptive.[68] Some airlines cancelled flights to prepare for the event and suggested that customers use other nearby airports instead.[69]
Two days after the parade, a woman was killed when she was struck by a truck carrying a tank away from the parade area.[70]
C-SPAN televised the entire parade,[71] as well as thecable news channelsCNN,Fox News,MSNBC,NewsNation,Newsmax,Real America's Voice, andOne America News Network, and thestreaming television news channelsABC News Live,CBS News 24/7, andNBC News Now.[72][4]
As President Donald Trump's military parade rolled through the nation's capital on Saturday, millions of Americans across the country took part in the largest coordinated protests against the president since the start of his second administration.
Second presidency of Donald Trump (2025–present) | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | |||||||||||||||
| Events |
| ||||||||||||||
| Policies |
| ||||||||||||||
| Democratic backsliding |
| ||||||||||||||
| Protests | |||||||||||||||
| Related |
| ||||||||||||||
