Military parade to celebrate the Army’s 250th anniversary will be held on Trump’s birthday

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This article was published 02/05/2025 (329 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army on Friday confirmed there will be a military parade on President Donald Trump’s birthday in June, as part of the celebrations around the service’s 250th birthday.

Plans for the parade, as first detailed by The Associated Press on Thursday, call for about 6,600 soldiers to march from Arlington, Virginia, to the National Mall along with 150 vehicles and 50 helicopters. Until recently, the Army’s birthday festival plans did not include a massive parade, which officials say will cost tens of millions of dollars.

But Trump has long wanted a military parade, and discussions with the Pentagon about having one in conjunction with the birthday festival began less than two months ago.

The pricey parade comes as Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency, run by Elon Musk, have slashed federal government departments, personnel and programs, with thousands of workers losing their jobs, including civilians in the Defense Department.

The Army 250th birthday happens to coincide with Trump’s 79th birthday on June 14. When asked about the parade on Thursday, the White House did not respond, and Army officials said no decision had been made. Officials on Friday afternoon said there has now been a formal decision to proceed with the parade but that there is still no specific cost estimate.

In comments to Fox News Digital, White House officials confirmed a commemorative parade would take place and said it would be one of the first events to kick of a yearlong celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

In a statement Friday, Army spokesman Steve Warren also acknowledged a final decision had been made, saying the Army’s 250th birthday celebration will include “a spectacular fireworks display, a parade, and a day-long festival on the National Mall.” He said that given the significance of the Army birthday, they are looking at options “to make the celebration even bigger, with more capability demonstrations, additional displays of equipment, and more engagement with the community.”

Army planning documents, obtained this week by the AP and dated April 29 and 30, said the parade will include soldiers from at least 11 corps and divisions nationwide. They said it would involve a Stryker battalion with two companies of Stryker vehicles, a tank battalion and two companies of tanks, an infantry battalion with Bradley vehicles, Paladin artillery vehicles, Howitzers and infantry vehicles.

The plans note that while the parade will begin near the Pentagon, the heavy, tracked vehicles — which would include the Strykers — would be stationed near the Lincoln Memorial and join the procession there, so they will not go over the bridge.

City officials, including D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, acknowledged in April that the administration reached out to the city about holding a parade on June 14. At the time, she said that tanks rolling through the city’s streets “would not be good.”

“If military tanks were used, they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads,” she said.