Happy birthday to me! Trump's mega-MAGA birthday military parade raises eyebrows

Plans to combine celebrations for the US Army's 250th anniversary with the US president's birthday with a military parade through the centre of Washington DC are raising eyebrows and the hackles of local politicians, who fear for the price tag and damage involved.

Sometimes history creates moments that appear too surreal to be true. In the United States, 14 June is set to be one of those. It's the day the US Army celebrates its 250th birthday, a historic event worth remembering.Since its official establishment on that day in 1775, over a year before the Declaration of Independence, the US military has played a vital role in the growth and development of the American nation.14 June is also President Donald Trump's 79th birthday, a coincidence which the White House has wasted no time in seizing as an opportunity to achieve Trump's long-held desire to stage a military parade in the streets of Washington. Trump caught the parade bug during his first term when French President Emmanuel Macron invited him to appear as guest of honour for the pomp of Paris' Bastille Day march. A green-eyed Trump considered something on a grander scale for Pennsylvania Avenue.Although parades have celebrated US military achievements in the past, the grandeur of ticker tape parades in Trump's native New York were rendered obsolete in the 1960s, as television and computers came into use for transmitting financial information. Until recently, the Army’s 250th birthday festival plans did not include a parade.The festival had been in the planning for more than a year, featuring displays of military equipment, musical performances and a fitness competition on the National Mall.Then, two months ago, Trump got involved. And now a parade is on the cards.Officially, it's not about the president. The historic celebration of the Army's 250th birthday "will honour generations of selfless Americans who have risked everything for our freedom," the White House said.Trump might not always have appreciated that sacrifice, according to reports which have cited him in the past referring to US soldiers in a cemetery near Paris as "losers" and "suckers."Nor did Trump himself appear keen to join the army, having avoided the draft for the Vietnam war several times. But that was then and now is now. And now means the military display has to be big.According to official planning documents, the twin-celebration includes almost 7,000 soldiers, more than 120 military vehicles, 25 Abrams tanks and 50 helicopters.In addition, there will be a “spectacular” fireworks display and a day-long festival on the National Mall, an Army spokesman said in a statement.Planning is ongoing and could still be changed.But not everyone is happy with where things are going."In general, the US is more comfortable with patriotism than Europe," Ian Lesser, vice president at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and executive director of the GMF's Brussels office told Euronews, adding, "But It shouldn't be about Trump, but about the US Army."Lesser also pointed to the possibility of tanks tearing up the streets. “Washington’s infrastructure is not designed to support heavy military equipment."This is also what worries the mayor of the District of Columbia, Muriel Bowser."If military tanks were used, they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads," she said in April.Trump's first-term plan was ultimately dumped due to the huge estimated costs, as high as $92 million.This time, cost estimates run much lower, but still in the tens of millions of dollars, this at a time when Trump and his Department by Government Efficiency (DOGE), run by Elon Musk, have slashed federal agencies, personnel and programmes to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse.Meanwhile, opposition to Trump's military parade plan is growing.Thus far, in more than 100 locations across the United States, a coalition of groups, including Our Revolution, a grassroots-funded group close to liberal Senator Bernie Sanders, is organising a nationwide day of protests.They call it "No Kings Day.""Donald Trump is set to honour himself with an extravagant, taxpayer-funded military tank parade through Washington, DC on his own birthday – a spectacle more suited for kings and dictators, not US presidents," it says in a fundraising email."In America, we reject authoritarianism and narcissistic self-celebration."Trump's parade plans also became fodder for late night comedy.On NBC's The Tonight Show, host Jimmy Fallon said, "Trump wants a full military parade for his birthday, so there will be tanks, fighter jets, and our most dangerous weapon, a self-driving Tesla."