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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDefund Rolling Stone! Send Rolling Stone to El Salvador! ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE (You will love this headline. Trust me.)
Trumps Military Birthday Parade Was a Gross FailureThe presidents military parade, which reportedly cost up to $45 million, was short on attendees, long on political speeches
By Nikki McCann Ramirez, Naomi LaChance, Asawin Suebsaeng, Andrew Perez, Stephen Rodrick
June 14, 2025
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-military-birthday-parade-dc-failure-1235365040/
WASHINGTON On Saturday, President Donald Trump held a hideously expensive military parade in Washington, D.C., on his birthday. Trump and his top officials stood on a stage at the National Mall behind two tanks, before two large digital American flags. Military bands and troops, some on horses, some in vehicles, some in tanks, others in Howitzers, marched in the streets. So did a few robot dogs. An army parachute team jumped down. Helicopters flew over. Drones flew by. There were many, many tanks.
The spectacle was billed as honoring the U.S. Armys 250th birthday and planners put in admirable effort to sell this fiction, with processions designed to honor key times in American military history. In reality, the event was just one part of the Trump administrations vast, billion-dollar government effort to make the leader feel good about himself.
The weekends pageantry, which some administration officials referred to as Donald Trumps birthday parade behind closed doors, fulfilled the presidents longtime desire for a grand military parade. Starting at the Pentagon in Virginia, the troops in the parade who honored the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Global War on Terror had to walk for about two-and-a-half miles.
Trump sat next to his wife Melania and the former Fox News host, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. At points, Trump stood alone in front onstage, such as when he saluted troops marching as the 1st Cavalry Division. At another point, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was pictured yawning on C-SPAN. The military officials shown on C-SPAN spoke with reverence about the War on Terror.
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Defund Rolling Stone! Send Rolling Stone to El Salvador! ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE (You will love this headline. Trust me.) (Original Post)
Miles Archer
16 hrs ago
OP
With *rump's mindless, Thelma and Louise "drill baby drill" mentality, America will become even hotter still.
Uncle Joe
15 hrs ago
#2
The irony of Captain Bonespur saluting the 1st Cav Drum Major decked out in Vietnam fatigues was
flashman13
13 hrs ago
#5
hlthe2b
(110,237 posts)1. Worth seeing the full piece: Here's an archival link sans paywall
Uncle Joe
(61,963 posts)2. With *rump's mindless, Thelma and Louise "drill baby drill" mentality, America will become even hotter still.
Were the hottest country in the world right now, Trump said. Our country will soon be greater and stronger than ever before. He said America is blessed beyond words by this valued legion of army warriors.
Thanks for the thread Miles Archer
Thanks for the thread Miles Archer
ancianita
(40,669 posts)3. Excellent article, thanks!
ultralite001
(1,780 posts)4. Has the world ever seen or heard...
such a sour puss???
flashman13
(1,294 posts)5. The irony of Captain Bonespur saluting the 1st Cav Drum Major decked out in Vietnam fatigues was
completely lost on Donnie. I don't think it was lost on veterans of that war.
They want to scrub John McCain's name off of one of Donnie's boats. In that light I can't believe (yes I can) his idiot staffers didn't think to prevent the troops from wearing those Vietnam era uniforms. They are all incompetent to the core.
BTW The more I think about it the more I'm sure that the lackadaisical marching style was an intentional FU Trump. Well done!