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| Trump wants bigger and better parade than that of Kim Jong-un |
Not to be outdone by the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong=un and other countries which organize military parades Donald Trump has ordered his military to also organize a multi-million military parade in Washington DC..
President Trump’s vision of soldiers marching and tanks rolling down
the boulevards of Washington is moving closer to reality in the Pentagon
and White House, where officials say they have begun to plan a grand
military parade later this year showcasing the might of America’s armed
forces.
Trump has long mused publicly and privately about wanting
such a parade, but a Jan. 18 meeting between Trump and top generals in
the Pentagon’s tank — a room reserved for top-secret discussions —
marked a tipping point, according to two officials briefed on the
planning.
Surrounded by the military’s highest-ranking officials,
including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chairman Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., Trump’s seemingly abstract desire
for a parade was suddenly heard as a presidential directive, the
officials said.
“The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,” said
a military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the
planning discussions are supposed to remain confidential. “This is
being worked at the highest levels of the military.”
Shows of military strength are not typical in the United States — and
they don’t come cheap. The cost of shipping Abrams tanks and high-tech
hardware to Washington could run in the millions, and military officials
said it was unclear how they would pay for it.
A White House
official familiar with the planning described the discussions as
“brainstorming” and said nothing was settled. “Right now, there’s really
no meat on the bones,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity to describe internal discussions.
After The Washington
Post first published this story, White House press secretary Sarah
Huckabee Sanders issued a statement confirming that plans are underway.
Read more: Trump’s ‘marching orders’ to the Pentagon: Plan a grand military parade
