Donald Trump orders Pentagon to plan grand military parade
David Smith in Washington
President reportedly seeks parade in model of France’s Bastille Day celebration, prompting one veterans’ group to call him ‘a wannabe banana republic strongman’

Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to plan a military parade that would see soldiers marching and tanks rolling down the streets of Washington, it was reported on Tuesday.
The move was instantly criticised, with one veterans’ group comparing the president to “a wannabe banana republic strongman”.
Trump is seeking a grand parade similar to the Bastille Day celebration in Paris, according to the Washington Post. He outlined the plan at a meeting at the Pentagon on 18 January that included defense secretary Jim Mattis and joint chiefs of staff chairman General Joseph Dunford, the paper said, citing an unnamed military official.
“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.”
The White House confirmed that an event is in the works, though it did not offer further details. “President Trump is incredibly supportive of America’s great service members who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe,” press secretary Sarah Sanders said. “He has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation.”
French army band medleys Daft Punk following Bastille Day parade – video
Trump, who did not serve in the Vietnam war after receiving five draft deferments, has long spoken of his admiration for tough military figures such as General George Patton and frequently makes reference to “my generals”.
The president was deeply impressed by a parade in Paris on 14 July last year. American and French soldiers marched together on the Avenue des Champs-Elysees to mark the centenary of America’s entry into the first world war and France’s annual Bastille Day holiday. It included tanks, armoured vehicles and a flyover of US and French military jets.
Trump told reporters in September: “To a large extent because of what I witnessed, we may do something like that on the Fourth of July in Washington down Pennsylvania Avenue. We’re actually looking into it.”
But not for the first time in Trump’s short political career, such a display is likely to prove divisive. On Tuesday retired general Paul Eaton, senior adviser to VoteVets, a progressive political action committee for military veterans, said: “Donald Trump has continually shown himself to have authoritarian tendencies, and this is just another worrisome example.”
