Can China jam your GPS?
IN MARCH, WHEN President Donald Trump briefly withheld intelligence support from Ukraine, the shock waves buffeted America's allies, who worried they could no longer take for granted access to the superpower's vast space-based resources. This uncertainty extends beyond defence to equally crucial tools, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS).
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NBC News
an hour ago
- NBC News
Trump's military parade: What to know ahead of Saturday's event
President Donald Trump on Saturday is set to host a major military parade in Washington celebrating the Army's 250th anniversary. The event is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars, according to defense officials, and will feature thousands of soldiers, hundreds of vehicles and dozens of military aircraft. The president, who will be celebrating his 79th birthday on Saturday, is scheduled to deliver remarks during the parade, which will take place in the evening in the nation's capital. Here's everything you need to know about Saturday's event. When is it happening? The parade is expected to kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday and is expected to last for over an hour, broken into celebrations of the Army's eras: the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Global War on Terror, the modern Army and the future. The parade will take place along the National Mall, along Constitution Avenue NW, between 15th and 23rd streets. While the parade is the main event of Saturday's celebration, the Army is hosting a variety of other events that day in the nation's capital, including a birthday festival on the National Mall in the morning. The festival opens at 11 a.m. ET and is free to the public. It will feature live music, meet-and-greets with former NFL players, rock walls and military demonstrations. The Army is billing it as a 'family friendly' event. The festival will include an Army fitness competition in the morning featuring 14 teams competing for victory. Trump will also deliver remarks later in the evening. His speech will touch on the Army's 'significant achievements' and 'enduring legacy.' After the parade wraps up, the Army says, the event will conclude with a concert and fireworks. Who's organizing it? The parade is being organized by America250, a bipartisan initiative created by Congress after the passage of the United States Semiquincentennial Commission Act of 2016. The members of America250's commission include Cabinet secretaries and lawmakers, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, Lisa Murkowksi, R-Alaska; Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. Trump signed an executive order in January that added several administration officials to the group working with America250. The executive order also made Trump chair of White House task force and Vice President JD Vance the vice chair. What's in the parade? Around 6,600 soldiers will march in the parade, plus 50 military aircraft and 150 vehicles, according to defense officials. Nearly three dozen horses and two mules are also expected to march in a section of the parade dedicated to the Army's history. Soldiers will wear costumes and carry weaponry representative of each period. The parade will also include an extensive air show and flyover, featuring helicopters, historic aircraft and a demonstration by the Army's Golden Knights parachute team. Military equipment and vehicles arrived near the nation's capital beginning early this week. In Jessup, Maryland, where some equipment was unloaded Monday, Col. Kamil Sztalkoper, the director of public affairs for the U.S. Army's III Armored Corps, told reporters that the equipment was delivered by train, with 'fifty-one rail cars overall.' How can people watch it? Members of the public are allowed to attend the event and will be able to watch the parade from the National Mall, including on screens that will be set up near the Washington Monument. The president and over 100 other notable guests will sit and watch the parade from a viewing box constructed on Constitution Avenue between 15th Street and 17th Street. Major broadcast networks, including ABC, CBS and NBC, will cover the parade on their respective streaming channels. NBC News Now will begin coverage of the parade Saturday evening. How much will it cost? The parade is expected to cost the military as much as $45 million, with up to $16 million of that cost accounting for the price of repairing Washington streets damaged by tanks. In an interview with NBC News' 'Meet the Press' in May, Trump defended the cost of the parade, saying that the millions of dollars were 'peanuts compared to the value of doing it.' 'We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have the greatest submarines in the world. We have the greatest army tanks in the world. We have the greatest weapons in the world. And we're going to celebrate it,' he added. In the same interview, Trump disputed that the parade was a birthday celebration for his 79th. 'My birthday happens to be on Flag Day,' he said. 'I view it for Flag Day, not necessarily my birthday. Somebody put it together. But no, I think we're going to do something on June 14, maybe, or somewhere around there. But I think June 14. It's a very important day.' Are protests expected? In Washington and in all 50 states, pro-democracy, labor and liberal activists are planning protests that will coincide with the military parade. Several progressive groups are joining forces to host a series of 'No Kings' protests around the country, with over 1,500 rallies expected Saturday. But the organizers decided against a Washington, protest, instead holding the flagship event in Philadelphia. The Women's March group is hosting 'Kick Out the Clowns' rallies in several cities. In Washington, several groups will host events throughout the day, including the group Refuse Fascism, which will host a ' nonviolent march' before the parade, and the Free D.C. Project, which plans to host a ' D.C. Joy Day.' The latter group isn't billing the event as a counterprotest, but rather a community day that will serve as counterprogramming to Trump's parade. The planned demonstrations come a week after protests broke out in Los Angeles against the administration's immigration raids. Clashes between protesters and law enforcement prompted Trump to deploy thousands of National Guard members, and later hundreds of Marines, in response. Trump's decision to send the military to quell protesters, which California officials sued to block, sparked further outcry across the country. On Tuesday, Trump warned protesters against disrupting the military celebration, saying they would be met with ' heavy force.' 'If there's any protester that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. '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.' Asked Wednesday if Trump would support peaceful protests in the area, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, 'Of course the president supports peaceful protests. What a stupid question.' How will it affect those living in and traveling to Washington? Washingtonians will have to navigate several days of road closures near the parade route, which will be along Constitution Avenue, on the north side of the National Mall, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. Dozens of streets will also have emergency no-parking measures in effect. On Saturday, the Metro will still be running in the nation's capital, with just one entrance to one station — the northwest entry/exit for the Smithsonian Metro — expected to close, according to the Army. Due to the expected flyovers during the parade, Reagan National Airport in northern Virginia, which serves travelers to the Washington area, will stop flights from taking off and landing, a move that could affect over 100 incoming and outgoing flights.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Trump's insurrection routine: fuel violence, spawn chaos, shrug off the law
Donald Trump's stages of insurrection have passed from trying to suppress one that didn't exist, to creating one himself, to generating a local incident he falsely depicts as a national emergency. In every case, whether he inflates himself into the strongman putting down an insurrection or acts as the instigator-in-chief, his routine has been to foster violence, spawn chaos and show contempt for the law. In his first term, Trump reportedly asked the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Mark Milley, 'Can't you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?' Trump was agitated about protesters in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. On 1 June, Trump ordered the US Park police to clear the park. Some charged on horses into the crowd. Trump emerged after the teargas wafted away to walk through the park, ordering Milley to accompany him, and stood in front of St John's Church on the other side to display a Bible upside down. Milley felt he had been badly used and exercised poor judgment in marching with Trump. 'I should not have been there,' he said. 'My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.' A day later, the secretary of defense, Mark Esper, held a news conference to oppose publicly the use of the military for law enforcement and any invocation of the Insurrection Act. Trump was furious with Milley and Esper. He was determined to have a pliable military, generals and a secretary of defense to do his bidding, whatever it might be. Then, Trump staged an insurrection in a vain last attempt to prevent the ballots of the electoral college from being counted that would make Joe Biden the elected president. While Trump's mob on 6 January chanted, 'Hang Mike Pence!' the vice-president hunkered down in the basement garage of the besieged Capitol, where he made the call for the national guard that Trump refused to give as he gleefully watched for hours on TV the followers he had organized and incited batter police and threaten the lives of members of the Congress. On the day of his inauguration to his second term, Trump granted clemency to nearly 1,600 insurrectionists convicted or charged in the 6 January attack. At least 600 were charged with assaulting or obstructing the police, at least 170 were charged with using a deadly weapon, and about 150 were charged with theft or destruction of government property. Trump granted commutations to 14 members of extremist militia groups convicted of or charged with seditious conspiracy to overthrow the US government. Now, Trump is toying with invoking the Insurrection Act to put down a supposed rebellion in Los Angeles. But his application of the act would be a belated attempt to cover his unlawful nationalization of the California national guard and deployment of marines to Los Angeles in response to a conflict that his administration has itself provoked. In late May, Stephen Miller, Trump's fanatical deputy chief of staff in charge of his immigration policy, called a meeting of leaders of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) to berate them for failing to pile up the statistics he demanded of deported immigrants. Restraint and the law were to be cast aside in their new wave of raids, which hit a flashpoint in LA. 'Federal agents make warrantless arrests,' reported the Wall Street Journal. 'Masked agents take people into custody without identifying themselves. Plainclothes agents in at least a dozen cities have arrested migrants who showed up to their court hearings. And across the US, people suspected of being in the country illegally are disappearing into the federal detention system without notice to families or lawyers, according to attorneys, witnesses and officials.' Miller ordered Ice agents to target Home Depot, where construction workers, many of them immigrants, go to purchase materials. On 6 June, masked Ice agents swooped down on a store in LA, arresting more than 40 people. Meanwhile, Ice agents raided a garment factory of a company called Ambience Apparel and placed at least a dozen people in vans. Soon, there was a demonstration at the downtown federal building where they were detained. Several Waymo robotaxis were burned within a four-block area near the relatively sparsely populated downtown. But the LAPD appeared to have the situation quickly under control, until Trump unilaterally federalized the national guard, whose presence prompted further demonstrations. One contingent of soldiers was sent to guard the federal building miles away in Westwood, an upscale neighborhood by the UCLA campus, where they were nuisances to people going shopping and to restaurants. Trump declared he would send in 700 marines. On 10 June, the California attorney general, Rob Bonta, filed a complaint on behalf of the state seeking a restraining order in federal court against Trump and the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth. 'To put it bluntly,' it stated, 'there is no invasion or rebellion in Los Angeles; there is civil unrest that is no different from episodes that regularly occur in communities throughout the country, and that is capable of being contained by state and local authorities working together.' 'All of this was unlawful,' wrote Bonta of the administration's actions. Trump's use of the guard was in violation of the law that requires an order to be issued through the governor. Trump's deployment of marines was 'likewise unlawful', in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prohibits the use of the US armed forces for civilian law enforcement. 'These unlawful deployments have already proven to be a deeply inflammatory and unnecessary provocation, anathema to our laws limiting the use federal forces for law enforcement, rather than a means of restoring calm.' Ironically, the Posse Comitatus Act was instrumental in the demise of Reconstruction. US troops stationed in the south after the civil war were forbidden from enforcing the law to protect Black civil rights. The Ku Klux Klan and other white terrorist organizations seized control of state governments, disenfranchised Black people and imposed Jim Crow segregation. In 1957, Dwight Eisenhower, then president, circumvented the Posse Comitatus Act by invoking the Insurrection Act; he used federal forces to implement the supreme court's desegregation ruling in Brown v Board of Education to integrate Little Rock Central high school. As a further irony, Trump had been indicted by the special prosecutor Jack Smith under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 for his actions leading to the January 6 insurrection. Count four read: 'From on or about November 14, 2020, through on or about January 20, 2021, in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, the Defendant, DONALD J. TRUMP, did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with co-conspirators, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate one or more persons in the free exercise and enjoyment of a right and privilege secured to them by the Constitution and laws of the United States – that is, the right to vote, and to have one's vote counted.' Trump evaded justice through a series of delaying actions by the conservative majority of the supreme court that culminated in its ruling for 'absolute' presidential immunity for 'official acts'. He was allowed to run out the clock and never held to account. If Trump's trial had proceeded on the original charges as scheduled on 6 March 2024, he would have undoubtedly found guilty and eliminated as a presidential candidate. On 10 June, Trump appeared before soldiers at Fort Liberty in North Carolina in anticipation of the Washington military parade he ordered for 14 June, opportunistically using the 250th anniversary of the US army (really the continental army) to celebrate his 79th birthday, 'a big day,' he said. 'We want to show off a bit.' Soldiers of the 82nd airborne division were screened for attendance at Trump's rally based on their political support and physical appearance. 'If soldiers have political views that are in opposition to the current administration and they don't want to be in the audience then they need to speak with their leadership and get swapped out,' read a note sent by the command, according to 'No fat soldiers,' said one message. A pop-up store for 365 Campaign of Tulsa, Oklahoma, which sells Trump merchandise, was set up on the base for the Trump visit. Aside from the usual Maga gear, it sells T-shirts reading: 'When I Die Don't Let Me Vote Democrat', 'I'm Voting for the Convicted Felon', and a false credit card that reads, 'White Privilege Card: Trumps Everything'. Send in the marines, but first send them to the Maga merch store. In violation of longstanding military policy on discipline, the selected troops cheered Trump's sneers and jeers. He announced he had renamed the fort to Fort Bragg, in honor of Braxton Bragg, a confederate general and large slaveowner notable for his defeats and bad temper and disliked by his officers. 'Can you believe they changed that name in the last administration for a little bit?' he said. He told the troops that they were to fight a war within the US against 'a foreign enemy', 'defending our republic itself', in California, where there was 'a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and on national sovereignty carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country'. Trump spontaneously invented a conspiracy theory on the spot. 'The best money can buy, somebody is financing it,' he claimed, 'and we're going to find out through Pam Bondi and Department of Justice, who it is.' He complained to the soldiers that the election of 2020 was 'rigged and stolen'. Then, he swiveled to talk about George Washington: 'Has anybody heard of him?' Then, he attacked Biden, 'never the sharpest bulb', or perhaps the brightest knife. Twice, Trump said he would 'liberate' Los Angeles, and promised that after that the Republican Congress would pass his 'big, beautiful bill', his budget stalled in the Senate. 'They call it one big, beautiful bill. So, that's good and that's what it is.' And then he rambled about the JD Vance-Tim Walz vice-presidential debate, and how some 'ladies', 'beautiful, wonderful women', followed him to '138 rallies', and on. Along the way, he praised his new chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Daniel Caine, who Trump insists on calling 'Razin Caine'. The next day, 11 June, Caine appeared before the Senate appropriations committee, and was questioned by Hawaii's Democratic senator, Brian Schatz, whether the events in LA show the US is 'being invaded by a foreign nation'. 'At this point in time,' replied the general, 'I don't see any foreign, state-sponsored folks invading.' As Caine was testifying, the Department of Homeland Security posted a cartoon of Uncle Sam hammering up a sign: 'Help Your Country…And Yourself…' Then, in capital letters: 'REPORT ALL FOREIGN INVADERS.' Which was followed by the telephone number for Ice. Sidney Blumenthal, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, has published three books of a projected five-volume political life of Abraham Lincoln: A Self-Made Man, Wrestling With His Angel and All the Powers of Earth. He is a Guardian US columnist and co-host of The Court of History podcast
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Trump's birthday tank parade: Everything we know about the unhinged street party
Tanks will roll through the streets of Washington DC on Saturday in a $45 million display of America's military might - which has absolutely nothing to do with Donald Trump's birthday. Nothing at all. Tanks will roll through the streets of Washington DC on Saturday in a $45 million display of America's military might - which has absolutely nothing to do with Donald Trump's birthday. Nothing at all. Attendees will be treated to the sight of a huge column of tanks and other military vehicles - both classic and contemporary - some might say intimidatingly rolling down Constitution Avenue. The parade will pass between the Washington Monument and the White House, from where the birthday boy will get a good long look at all his toys. So what's it all about? What will happen at the parade - and will there be any protests? Here's everything you need to know. What's happening in Washington DC this weekend? Saturday is Flag Day in the United States - and this year marks the 250th anniversary of the US Army. A fun fact that Donald Trump likes to roll out from time to time is that the United States Army is one year older than the United States. Next year, the Trump administration is planning a huge wave of celebrations to mark the country's birthday. But we digress. By blessed coincidence, Saturday also marks the 79th anniversary of the birth of Donald John Trump. So it seemed like a good time for him to ram through plans he's been trying to get off the ground since he saw the Bastille Day parade in Paris during his first administration. The Army's already-planned festival taking place on the National Mall is set to include "interactive displays, including robots and night vision goggles" and "free give-aways". Attendees I'll be able to meet "Army soldiers, NFL players, influencers and celebrities". Then, at 6.30pm, there will be a huge parade of military equipment along Constitutional Avenue North West, with the route taking it right between the Washington Monument and the White House. Later, Trump will give a speech on the Ellipse, the patch of parkland in front of the White House. Another fun fact, last time Trump gave a speech there, there was a violent attempted coup. Oh yeah, and singer Lee Greenwood will be singing his patriotic soft rock hit "God Bless The USA" live and in person. What will the parade be like? The main parade will include 6,000 Army soldiers as well as tanks, helicopters, mobile guns and a parachute display. Abrams and Paladin tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Stryker and Infantry Squad Vehicles will roll through the streets - with organisers laying plates of steel on the tarmac in the hope it might prevent damage from the hefty hardware. Meanwhile, Apaches, Chinooks and Black Hawk helicopters will fly overhead. Will there be protests? Yes, but not where you might think. Hundreds - possibly thousands - of individual protests are scheduled to take place across the United States this weekend, all under the banner of "No Kings Day". The organisers say the protesters are a direct response to Trump's birthday parade. "No Kings" grew out of the "50501" movement - a previous day of protests whose name stood for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement. "They've defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services," the group said on its website. "They've done this all while continuing to serve and enrich their billionaire allies." They add: "The flag doesn't belong to President Trump. It belongs to us. On June 14th, we're showing up everywhere he isn't - to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings." Where will protests be taking place on Saturday? The biggest protest is scheduled for Philadelphia, from 12pm - when protesters will march from Love Park to the Art Museum steps. But at least hundreds more protests are listed to take place at the same time in more cities and towns across the United States. Get Donald Trump updates straight to your WhatsApp! As tension between the White House and Europe heats up, the Mirror has launched its very own US Politics WhatsApp community where you'll get all the latest news from across the pond. We'll send you the latest breaking updates and exclusives all directly to your phone. Users must download or already have WhatsApp on their phones to join in. All you have to do to join is click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! We may also send you stories from other titles across the Reach group. We will also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose Exit group. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Where won't there be a protest? Washington DC. And probably for good reason. Last week Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he would take a very dim view of any disruption of his parade. "We're going to celebrate big on Saturday," he said. "If any protesters want to come out, they will be met with very big force." It's been pointed out that he didn't say anything about the "big force" being reserved for violent protesters. "People that want to protest will be met with big force," he said - acknowledging he'd not heard of any plans for a protest in DC. "But this is people that hate our country. They will be met with heavy force."
