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After failing to organize his own American military parade on November 10 for Veterans Day, President Donald Trump will attend France’s November 11 commemorative events for Armistice Day, which, yes, will include a military parade.
French president Emmanuel Macron invited 80 heads of state to participate in the event celebrating the 100th anniversary of World War I. Before going to Paris, Trump will participate in the large, already planned procession at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
In February, Trump announced his intentions to organize a large military parade in Washington, D.C. some six months after viewing France’s Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysées, in front row seat with Macron. He asked the Pentagon to look into the project with the intention to “try and top” the French parade.
But the parade’s execution quickly came to a halt. Originally scheduled for Saturday, November 10, the parade was postponed due to its cost, estimated at more than $90 million. Trump didn’t try to hide his anger with authorities in the capitol, communicating his frustrations through his favorite medium, Twitter: “The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly) know a windfall when they see it. When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a sum so ridiculously high that I cancelled it. Never let someone hold you! I will instead attend the big parade already scheduled at Andrews Air Force Base on a different date, & go to the Paris parade, celebrating the end of the War, on November 11th. Maybe we will do something next year in D.C. when the cost comes WAY DOWN. Now we can buy some more jet fighters!”
Featured image: Stock Photos from Frederic Legrand – COMEO/Shutterstock
