{"id":23676,"date":"2018-08-17T02:54:45","date_gmt":"2018-08-17T02:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/08\/17\/president-pentagon-put-off-washington-parade\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:44:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:44:17","slug":"president-pentagon-put-off-washington-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2018\/08\/17\/president-pentagon-put-off-washington-parade\/","title":{"rendered":"President, Pentagon put off Washington parade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a stunning move Thursday evening, the Pentagon announced that President Donald J. Trump\u2019s military parade through the nation\u2019s capital will be postponed until 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Department of Defense spokesman Col. Rob Manning told reporters that both the military and White House \u201chave now agreed to explore opportunities in 2019,\u201d delaying the Nov. 10 parade championed by the president to honor the troops and commemorate the centennial of World War I<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No makeup date for the procession has been scheduled but the Pentagon move came hours after The Associated Press and other media outlets reported that military officials pegged the price tag for Trump\u2019s event at $92 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s at least three times higher than what White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told lawmakers<\/a> it would cost during Capitol Hill testimony on Feb. 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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U.S. service members march down Pennsylvania Avenue during the presidential inaugural parade in Washington on Jan. 20, 2017. (Sgt. George Huley\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Citing anonymous Pentagon sources, the AP reported that parade planners needed about $50 million to fund aircraft flyovers, equipment, personnel and other expenses. Other agencies would combine to pay a $42 million tab for other expenditures, mostly security along a parade route winding from the the White House to the Capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secretary of Defense James Mattis, a retired Marine four-star general, had defended the parade by saying it arose from Trump\u2019s genuine affection for the armed forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But many troops privately grumbled about being dragooned to march <\/a>during what traditionally has been a four-day weekend away from their military duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics also lambasted the administration for spending tens of millions of dollars on the November spectacle after Trump canceled military maneuvers with South Korea partly because they would cost \u201ca tremendous amount of money,” a sum the military later estimated at $14 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others had questioned whether the procession would resemble the military marches favored by dictators such as North Korea\u2019s strongman Kim Jong-un, who told Trump during nuclear talks that he considered America\u2019s war games with Seoul to be provocative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But supporters of Trump\u2019s parade pointed to similar celebrations in democracies such as France\u2019s Bastille Day procession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eyeing Paris, Trump had said that his administration was \u201cgoing to have to try and top it\u201d in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron are seen on a large screen as they stand during the American National Anthem during Bastille Day parade in Paris on July 14, 2017. (Carolyn Kaster\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Military support for events in the capital isn\u2019t unusual. More than 5,000 troops from the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, including reserve and National Guard personnel, supported Trump\u2019s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Department of Defense memo released in March revealed that the president\u2019s November celebration would feature a \u201cheavy air component” but \u201cwheeled vehicles only, no tanks\u201d because of concerns the treads would chew up the capital\u2019s roadways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That happened in 1991, when Washington officials held a parade to honor troops home from the war in Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\t