The 2018 Washington Veterans Day Parade (colloquially called "Trump's military parade") was a planned military parade that would have taken place in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on November 10, 2018, in honor of the

Veterans Day Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces. It coincides with holidays in several countries, i ...

holiday (which took place on 11 November). On August 16, 2018, it was announced that the military parade would be postponed until 2019. In cancelling the parade for 2018, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

cited the projected high costs for the parade, which he blamed on D.C. city officials.

Background

The parade was expected to include members of all five armed services; the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

Marine Corps Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included raiding ashore (often in supp ...

and the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

, with other units that were to be dressed in period uniforms representing earlier times in the United States military history. A memo from General Joseph Dunford reported that the parade was to have focused on historic battles and conflicts such as the Revolutionary War and the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Between 5,000 and 7,000 service members were to have taken part in the parade, which was to begin at the U.S. Capitol and end at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. The evolution of women in the service was also to be highlighted in the parade, along with an emphasis on the price of freedom. The parade would have included 100 wheeled vehicles instead of tanks, as well as a heavy air component featuring 50 aircraft at the end of the parade. U.S. President Donald Trump would have been situated in a reviewing area and surrounded by military heroes.

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipients would have been included in reviewing the parade with the President and would have marched in the parade. The parade would also have coincided with the 100th anniversary of the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It was to have been the first full scale parade in the nation's capital since

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

involving the men and women of the active and reserve components of the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

and veterans' organizations and the first national Veterans' Day parade in years. U.S. President

requested the military parade following his admiration of the

Bastille Day military parade The Bastille Day military parade, also known as the 14 July military parade, translation of the French name of , is a French military parade that has been held on the morning of Bastille Day, 14 July, each year in Paris since 1880, almost with ...

at the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an Avenue (landscape), avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

which he attended in 2017.

Cancellation of 2018 parade

On August 17, 2018, U.S. President

stated that he canceled the parade due to the "ridiculous" $92 million price tag. Through Twitter he blamed local politicians for the price and suggested hosting another parade in 2019, and ended his tweets with; "Maybe we will do something next year in D.C. when the cost comes WAY DOWN. Now we can buy some more jet fighters!" In spite of Trump's statements, Budget Director

Mick Mulvaney John Michael “Mick” Mulvaney (born July 21, 1967) is an American politician who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from February 2017 until March 2020, and as acting White House chief of staff from January 2019 un ...

claimed that the cancellation was not just for reasons of cost. After the parade was canceled, Trump confirmed that he would instead "go to the Paris parade" on November 11, referring to the commemorations there marking the anniversary of the end of World War I.

Cost

A Pentagon official estimated the cost of the parade between $3 million and $50 million, earlier in 2018. Another suggestion of the cost was closer to $92 million, with at least $50 million being used to cover Pentagon costs for aircraft, equipment, personnel, and other support. This number was refuted by Defense Secretary

Jim Mattis James Norman Mattis (born September 8, 1950) is an American military officer who served as the 26th United States secretary of defense from 2017 to 2019. A retired United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps four-star General (United States), gene ...

who stated; "I'm not dignifying that number ($92 million) with a reply." The $92 million estimate was to be divided between the Defense Department and the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

, which would have contributed $50 million and $42 million respectively. Separately DC City officials estimated expenses related to the parade would have been $21.6 million with an expectation for reimbursement from the Federal government, with the Mayor of Washington, D.C.,

Muriel Bowser Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician who has served as the current mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she previously represented th ...

reporting that $13 million would have been used alone to cover police costs.

Opinion of parade

Support

In February 2017, very few lawmakers backed the idea of a military parade. Senator David Perdue, a Republican of

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, told reporters "He's the President of the United States. Personally, I would prefer not to do it. But he's the president." Senator

Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (; born July 9, 1955) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A membe ...

, a Republican of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, supported the parade if it honored the military itself, and not the "...

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-style hardware display."

AMVETS American Veterans (AMVETS) is a non-partisan, volunteer-led organization formed by World War II veterans of the United States military. It advocates for its members as well as for causes that its members deem helpful to the nation at large. The g ...

, a group that advocates for military veterans, felt that potentially the parade would inspire more Americans to join the armed forces.

Against

Other politicians spoke out against the parade. Representative

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or ...

, a Democrat of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

and members of the

House Armed Services Committee The U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee or HASC, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of ...

released a statement that highlighted "A military parade like this - one that is unduly focused on a single person - is what

authoritarian regimes Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

do, not democracies." Senator John Kennedy, a Republican of

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, told reporters "We're not

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

, we're not

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, and we're not

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and I don't want to be", while speaking out against the proposed parade. Robert O'Neill, a former

Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

, tweeted in February 2018 that any military parade would be "...third world bullshit." Other military veterans echoed the sentiment with calls for the money to be spent on housing, employment and mental health care to better support the troops. A veteran of the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

highlighted that it would seem unreasonable to hold a parade in celebration while a 19-year-old war (per 2020) was still ongoing.

References

{{Authority control Washington Veterans Day Parade Cancelled events in the United States Military parades in the United States November 2018 in the United States First Trump administration controversies