President Trump has been wanting to showcase the military might of the United States in a parade since before he took office. Now his request to have the Pentagon put one together for the July 4th holiday may actually happen.
Trump asked the Pentagon to get the ball rolling on plans for a military “celebration,” the White House confirmed Tuesday.
“President Trump is incredibly supportive of America’s great service members who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. “He has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation.”
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President Trump has been wanting to showcase the military might of the United States in a parade since before he took office. Now his request to have the Pentagon put one together for the July 4th holiday may actually happen.
Trump asked the Pentagon to get the ball rolling on plans for a military “celebration,” the White House confirmed Tuesday.
“President Trump is incredibly supportive of America’s great service members who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. “He has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation.”
Army Col. Robert Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, told USA TODAY: “We are aware of the request and are in the process of determining specific details.”
At a Jan. 18 meeting at the Pentagon with senior military officials, Trump’s idea became a “presidential directive,” The Washington Post reported, citing unnamed officials.
“The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,” one unnamed official said, according to the Post. “This is being worked at the highest levels of the military.”
Pentagon spokesman Charlie Summers told CNN the planning is in its “infancy.”
The parade in France Trump was reportedly referring to was a Bastille Day parade he attended with French President Emmanuel Macron on July 14, 2017, in Paris. The parade included tanks, soldiers in gleaming helmets astride horses and jets flying overhead.
When Trump met with Macron at the United Nation General Assembly two months later, he said it was one of the “greatest parades I’ve ever seen.”
“We’re going to have to try to top it,” Trump told the French president.
“We are actually thinking about Fourth of July, Pennsylvania Avenue, having a really great parade to show our military strength,” he said.
Now the Pentagon has been made aware of it, the wheels are turning inside Washington to make it happen for a July 4th parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. Nothing soldiers like more than a parade…on a holiday.
To read the entire article from the USA Today, click here:
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