Thousands of soldiers, tanks and fighting vehicles and marching bands were expected at a parade down a five-block stretch of Constitution Avenue for a celebration of the Army’s 250th anniversary.
At an Ellipse reviewing stand is President Donald Trump, celebrating his 79th birthday, and he is expected to speak later in the evening. The event was scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT, but organizers moved events up a half an hour out of concerns over the weather.
There were long lines of attendees at security gates on the eastern end of the parade route.
With heavy security and miles of fencing around the area of the White House and the National Mall, the event helped trigger a nationwide series of protests, called No Kings, partly out of concern that the D.C. spectacle would take on the look of a North Korean leader reviewing his troops. The nation’s capital last hosted a military parade in 1991, to celebrate the U.S. victory in the first Gulf War.
Cable news networks and broadcast streaming channels planned extensive coverage.
Although the Army has been planning a celebration for more than a year, the parade is taking place following a tumultuous week, with concerns over Trump using the U.S. military to maintain domestic order. The ICE raids in Los Angeles led to protests and Trump’s decision to federalize the National Guard to dispatch it to the city, while 700 Marines also were ordered deployed.
The biggest threat of disruption to the parade was the weather, and the threat of storms and potential flash flooding. Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier in the day, “OUR GREAT MILITARY PARADE IS ON, RAIN OR SHINE. REMEMBER, A RAINY DAY PARADE BRINGS GOOD LUCK. I’LL SEE YOU ALL IN D.C.”
Despite the controversy over the parade and its cost, estimated at about $45 million, CNN’s Jeff Zeleny said that he was on the National Mall earlier in the day, where a festival was held to celebrate the Army anniversary.
“But now we are turning the page to the parade,” Zeleny noted, adding that he was in Paris during Trump’s first term when the president attended the Bastille Day parade and was enamored by the spectacle. “Yes, the Army is being celebrated, and the president is also being celebrated,” Zeleny said.
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