As Washington, D.C., prepares for the upcoming Army anniversary parade, President Trump vows to make the event as memorable as possible and without disruption.
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While speaking to reporters at the Oval Office on Tuesday, the world leader talked about how the U.S. government will be “celebrating big” this weekend, with no protests.
“If there’s any protester that wants to come out, they will be met with a very big force,” he warned, per NBC News. “I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”
The Army 250th anniversary parade will take place on Saturday in the heart of Washington, D.C. The event is expected to feature tanks, hundreds of military vehicles, and aircraft. The event is estimated to cost approximately $45 million, which will include $16 million for street repairs in the U.S. capital.
President Trump will be celebrating his 79th birthday on the same day as the Army anniversary parade.
“We’re going to have a fantastic June 14 parade, Flag Day,” he also told reporters on Tuesday. “It’s going to be an amazing day.”
“We have tanks, we have planes, we have all sorts of things,” the world leader then stated. “And I think it’s going to be great. We’re going to celebrate our country for a change.”
The president further stated that while other countries celebrated the end of World War II, the U.S. was the only country that did not. “And we’re the ones that won the war,” he said. “We won the war, and we’re the only country that didn’t celebrate it. And we’re going to be celebrating big on Saturday.”
He added that without the U.S., Americans would be speaking German or Japanese.
Officials Speak About the Security at the Army Anniversary Parade
Meanwhile, Matt McCool, the U.S. Secret Service agent in charge of the Washington field office, told reporters earlier this week that the agency is planning to deploy “thousands of agents, officers, and specialists from across the country” for the Army anniversary parade this weekend.
Those attending the event will be required to pass through checkpoints with magnetometers.
When asked if there are any changes to security in light of the LA protests, McCool said, “We plan for those things ahead of time. We were paying attention, obviously, to what is happening there, and we’ll be ready for that if it were to occur here.”
“We have no intelligence of that happening here,” he clarified. “But if it does, we have the resources to handle it.”
McCool also stated that the U.S. Park Police had several protest permits pending on Monday. However, officials “don’t have any significant concerns.” He then noted the agency is tracking “about nine First Amendment activity demonstrations.”
The anti-Trump group, No Kings, is expected to have more than 1,800 protests nationwide on Saturday. The organizers noted the demonstrations are a “peaceful stand against authoritarian overreach and gross abuse of power this Administration has shown.”
President Trump previously deployed the National Guard and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles. He claimed the protests against ICE raids got out of control, and he needed to step in. City and state officials did not request the National Guard.
“This military escalation only confirms what we’ve known,” the No King organizers said in a statement. “This government wants to rule by force, not serve the people.”
“From major cities to small towns, we’ll rise together and say, we reject political violence,” the statement added. “We reject governance. We reject the myth that only some deserve freedom.”