Pentagon Memo Offers New Details About Trump’s Military Parade

Image Credit: Military Times

Sent to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Thursday, a Pentagon planning memo showed that President Donald Trump’s military parade will focus on honoring veterans and will emphasize the “price of freedom.”

According to CNN, which obtained the memo, the parade will feature military aircraft but not heavy military vehicles like tanks.

The Joint Staff will reportedly plan the parade, which will run from the White House to the Capitol. Trump’s parade will integrate with the Washington, D.C., Veterans Day parade, and Medal of Honor recipients will reportedly surround the president in the Capitol’s viewing area.

“I think it's great for our country in terms of being a cheerleader and the spirit,” Trump said of the parade during a Fox News interview last month.

“We'll see if we can do it at a reasonable cost, and if we can't, we won't do it. But the generals would love to do it, I can tell you, and so would I,” he added.

Trump wanted the parade after seeing troops march during the Bastille Day parade in France during his visit last year.

“The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,” a military official reportedly said.

D.C. government officials apparently tried to cancel Trump's parade. In a tweet, it said the “Giant Tank Parade” was “permanently” canceled:

Democratic lawmakers panned the idea, arguing that the parade money should go toward other causes.

“Take the money that the president would like to spend on this parade [and] instead, let's make sure our troops are ready for battle and survive it and come home to their families,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said.